Ruler of the Gentle Darkness
by Underdog Lover
Summary: AU of the end of Season 3 and Season 4 The trip to the other dimension brings about a lot of change for Jaden. Embracing what he is and what his destiny is Jaden becomes the Supreme King. His destiny, to stop the Light of Destruction and it's vessel from destroying all life in the universe. Will he do it or will the Light of Destruction destroy all that The Gentle Darkness has done
1. Chapter 1

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter One)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

In this world most duel monsters duelists would have just a normal life of going out, dueling, and going home, but not for duelists like Jaden Yuki. Once a fun loving duelist who had no worries in the world, but after two and a half years at Duel Academy, nearing about halfway towards the end of his third year was when things had really gone bad.

A deranged man took dueling energy from all the students and after losing to Jaden the backlash had thrown the entire Academy into a different dimension where Jaden's past came back to haunt him. Yubel, the name of his favorite card as a child, had returned and orchestrated Jaden's downfall by taking Jaden's new found friend Jesse after they were close to beating her. With them back and Jesse gone Jaden was adamant about getting back into the alternate dimension to save Jesse.

His friends, naturally, weren't going to let him go alone and so they went with him, but as time went on it seemed that all Jaden was focusing on was finding Jesse and not caring about them. That left spirits to curse them and have them blame Jaden for everything. When Jaden tried saving them in a duel only Syrus was still alive as the others had died and were sent to the stars.

Jaden couldn't handle it; the guilt he felt was worse than any pain that could've ever been inflicted upon him. With that his mind and body were ripe for the taking and he was taken over by his previous life, a being known as the Supreme King. With that he went on a montage conquering the entire dimension and killed all those who opposed him.

The few friends who were still alive after most of them died, Jim and Axel, sought out to defeat the Supreme King, but when they saw it was Jaden they felt horrified. Horrified and guilty, guilty because if they hadn't of turned their backs on Jaden in the first place this might not have happened. Jim dueled valiantly to try and save Jaden and nearly did, but the Supreme King was too powerful and destroyed Jim sending him to the stars. Axel couldn't face him and fled.

After regrouping with Syrus, Crowler and Zane Axel returned with them to defeat the Supreme King. They got separated on the way up there, but Axel managed to make it up there and he dueled his very hardest to defeat the Supreme King, but only managed to result it in a draw. Axel and the Supreme King were killed and sent to the stars, but Jaden was alive.

But right now he wished he wasn't because the knowledge of what he did was almost too much to bare. In his own unique way, Zane tried to turn Jaden back, but by Jaden's refusal to play his cards properly made the duel end quickly.

Before anything else could happen… Jesse appeared, but it wasn't Jesse. It was Yubel possessing Jesse's body. Zane stepped up wanting to end this already and Yubel gladly agreed dueling Zane with a dark version of Jesse's Crystal beasts known as the Advanced Crystal Beasts. Zane fought long and hard and almost beat Yubel a number of times, but one last strike from the Rainbow Dark Dragon destroyed the rest of Zane's life points.

"I'll be waiting for you Jaden" Yubel sneered at him before flying away with an evil laugh. Jaden clenched his fists so hard his palms began to bleed and gnashed his teeth together.

"Zane, no" Syrus cried snapping Jaden from his anger. He ran over to them to see Zane glowing a faint yellow, the same color everyone else did when they died.

"It's fine Syrus" Zane said softly holding his chest while sweating profusely. "I got the final duel I wanted."

"Zane, we'll get you some help, just hold on" Jaden said.

Zane only glared coldly at him "The one good thing about me dying right now… is that I won't live to… Watch. You. Fail" he practically spat before his body disappeared into particles.

"Zane… ZANE" Syrus screamed in despair tears falling from his eyes. Crowler looked at Syrus with sadness visible on his face before he turned his look to Jaden and his eyes widened. Jaden had never looked so defeated and so devastated all at once. No sound was coming from him at all, but tears were spewing from his eyes.

Jaden sank to his knees now feeling absolutely hopeless now; another friend was gone and it was all his fault again. Even worse, it was his best friend's older brother "Jaden" a voice said. Jaden didn't look up but he did turn his head slightly.

'Neos' he thought.

"Why are you giving up Jaden" Neos asked. "You have never given up on a thing in your life; why are you starting now? You can still make things right?" Jaden didn't respond for a moment before he finally stood up.

'The only thing I can do to make things right Neos is to embrace the power of the Supreme King' Jaden responded blankly. 'I am beyond atonement for what I have done, but maybe, just maybe, I can redeem myself and bring the others back to life and save Jesse.'

"If that is what you will do I, and the others, will standby and support you" Neos told him strongly.

'Thank you' he replied. With that Jaden stood up and began to walk away.

"Jaden, where are you going" Crowler called to him.

"To end this" Jaden said firmly.

"Look Jaden, far be it for me to point this out, but you are not in the right state of mind to be doing anything right now" Crowler told him honestly.

He was right; Jaden was far from alright, but he had no choice. Instead he turned to face Crowler "Dr. Crowler, before I go I just wanted to say thank you." Crowler blinked at him confused "Even though you didn't like me at all for a long time you still worked together with all of us to protect the world and even protect our dorm. I realize you're so hard on us because you believe in us… and I just wanted to tell you thank you; you're a good teacher."

Crowler stared at Jaden with nothing less than shock; was this really Jaden. Was he really just thanking him after everything he did to him? Then it dawned on Crowler "Jaden, what are you going to do?"

"Redeem myself" Jaden said before suddenly a fierce wind picked up around Jaden. A dark golden energy seemed to glow around Jaden's body before he looked up his eyes a deep golden color; the eyes of the Supreme King. Then Jaden lifted his hands and a bright light enveloped the entire area making Crowler and Syrus cover their eyes from the light.

After a moment the light died away and when it did the two of them gaped as everyone was back; Alexis, Atticus, Aster, Axel, Jim, Chazz, Hassleberry and even Zane. They were all back and alive.

"Take care of them" Jaden said getting Crowler and Syrus' attention. His eyes were still golden and his voice radiated power. "And when this is all over… tell them I'm sorry." With that Jaden closed his eyes and walked off.

"Jaden, wait" Syrus called, but Jaden vanished in a flash to go and confront Yubel.

SCENE CHANGE

Yubel waited patiently for Jaden and when she sensed him a malicious grin lit her face, technically Jesse's since she was still using his body. She turned around "Welcome Jaden" she said, but paused when she saw his eyes and his disposition. It was not Jaden anymore; it was the Supreme King.

"Save the pleasantries Yubel" the Jaden said coldly. "There a waste of breath and time; let's do this now."

The grin came back "Very well; if you're in such a hurry to join the rest of your friends then fine with me." Jaden pulled out his duel disk and put it on his arm before holding his hand up. Yubel stared at him before suddenly she gasped as the biggest mass of dark energy she ever felt gathered in his hand. It swirled around in his hand for almost two minutes before dying away to reveal a single card. "What is that; what did you do" she demanded.

"You'll just have to find out" Jaden said slipping the card into his deck before shuffling and inserting his deck into his disk just as Yubel did the same with hers.

"DUEL" they both shouted.

SCENE CHANGE

Back down below the others were waking up one by one "W-What happened" Alexis groaned slightly sitting up.

"Easy Alexis" Crowler said. "You've been through rough experience."

"No kidding; my head's killing me" she said feeling her head.

"Mine too" Atticus and Chazz agreed. Then suddenly Chazz gasped "Wait a minute, how are we all alive?"

"Yeah; I thought we all died" Hassleberry agreed surprised that he was alive. Zane was especially shocked; he looked himself over and felt his chest. His heart was beating nice and strong.

"It was Jaden" Syrus said softly getting their attention. "Jaden brought you all back to life."

"Jaden" Atticus gasped.

"He brought us all back" Chazz gaped just as shocked as everyone else.

"Where is he" Alexis asked quickly. "Syrus where is he?"

Syrus didn't answer for a moment before speaking "He's gone to face Yubel; the one behind this whole mess."

Crowler then spoke "We don't even know if he plans on coming back." That made everyone gasp loudly.

"Jaden told me to tell you guys something" Syrus said. "He's sorry… sorry for everything."

"Well what the hell are we doing standing around here for" Chazz said "We need to go help him."

"Too right mate" Jim agreed.

"Come on; we've got to get to him" Alexis said hurriedly and all of them took off running as fast as they could determined to get to their friend. They were not going to let him be alone in this.

SCENE CHANGE

Yubel had just finished her first turn and activated Advanced Dark to give her a large advantage with her advanced crystal beasts and then summoned Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) to end her turn.

Now it was Jaden's turn and he drew a card. "First thing I'm going to do is Summon Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy in attack mode" Jaden said summoning a large monster with a rather wicked grin on his face (300/600).

Yubel's eyes widened "Why do you have those cards; they were destroyed when the Supreme King was destroyed."

"Don't be stupid Yubel" Jaden responded. "The Supreme King can't be destroyed. I am him, he is me and we are one; unfortunately for you Yubel." Yubel sneered at Jaden "I'm not done yet because I activate the spell card Evil Multiply" he said playing a card that showed a small devil black figure multiplying. "With this I can take one DARK attribute monster with less than 500 attack points and make as many tokens of him as I can. Since I have four empty slots that means four tokens."

Four copies of Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy appeared in defense mode (300/600). "So you have a small defense; it won't help you."

"Really now" Jaden said. "Then let me inform you how wrong you are. When I summon Infernal Prodigy and there are no monsters on the field he counts as a special summon. Now I sacrifice the original Infernal Prodigy to summon out Evil HERO Malicious Edge." One Infernal Prodigy disappeared and a dark monster with long talons appeared on the field (2600/1800).

Yubel growled at him "Not that one."

"Yes that one and I'm sure you know that when you control a monster he only needs one sacrifice to be summoned" Jaden said. "But I'm not done; when Infernal Prodigy is sacrificed on the same turn he's summoned I get to draw one card." Jaden drew one card "Now Malicious Edge attack Cobalt Eagle with malicious slice."

"You fool" Yubel smirked. "With Advanced Dark on the field even if you destroy my Advanced Crystal Beasts all I need to do is send one to the graveyard and all battle damage becomes zero. So I'll send Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise to the graveyard to negate all battle damage." Cobalt Eagle was destroyed and a cobalt stone appeared in Yubel's spell and trap card zone.

Jaden: 4000

Yubel: 4000

But the life points stayed the same. "I place one card facedown and end my turn" Jaden said placing one card down.

"Then it's my move" Yubel said drawing a card. She smirked at him "I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" she said and a giant Pegasus with a large sapphire horn appeared (1800/1200). "Next I'm going to activate Sapphire Pegasus' special ability. When he's successfully summoned I can send one Advanced Crystal Beast to the spell and trap card zone and I choose Ruby Carbuncle."

A ruby stone appeared in the spell and trap card zone.

"But I'm not done yet" she said gleefully. "Due to Ruby Carbuncle's special ability I can summon it to the field." Ruby Carbuncle appeared on the field (300/300) "And you should know when Ruby Carbuncle is summoned to the field from the spell and trap card zone I get to summon all Advanced Crystal Beasts from the spell and trap card zone so Cobalt Eagle comes back." Cobalt Eagle reappeared on the field (1400/800).

"And what has that accomplished; you cannot defeat Malicious Edge" Jaden said calmly.

"Not yet, which is why I'm activating my Crystal Release spell card" Yubel said. "With this I can increase Sapphire Pegasus's attack points by 800." Sapphire Pegasus got even stronger (1800+800=2600/1200).

Jaden scowled "Now they're even."

"Exactly, but that's all I need" Yubel said. "Sapphire Pegasus destroy that Malicious Edge." Sapphire Pegasus charged and slammed into Malicious Edge just as Malicious Edge sliced into Sapphire Pegasus, both monsters were instantly destroyed. "And since Crystal Release was destroyed I can now place an Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck into my spell and trap card zone and I think I'll choose Topaz Tiger" she said and a topaz stone appeared in the spell and trap card zone. "Now to end my turn I'll have Cobalt Eagle destroy one of those Infernal Doppelgangers." Cobalt Eagle flew up and sliced through one of them.

"The end for you is nigh Jaden; it won't be long now" she said maliciously.

As Yubel finished her turn everyone else had finally made it to the area. "Jaden" Alexis whispered staring into his eyes. Those dark, evil golden eyes were not Jaden's; they were not the eyes of the duelist she had fallen in love with.

"What's wrong with his eyes" Chazz asked resisting the urge to shiver at the eyes.

"The Supreme King" Jim whispered softly while Axel's hand began shaking slightly before he clenched it hard.

"Jaden, it appears we have an audience" Yubel smirked. Jaden spared a glance in their direction and felt a brief flicker of happiness before he squashed it; there was no time for it.

"It matters not" he said making the others shiver at his voice. "My turn" he said drawing a card. "And I'm going to activate Dark Calling." Yubel growled at him.

"Dark Calling; since when did Jaden have a card like that in his deck" Aster asked.

No one answered; Axel however 'I know what's coming next' he thought.

"With this I'm going to remove from play my Evil HERO Malicious Edge in the graveyard with the Dark Ruler Ha Des in my hand in order to summon a fusion monster." Both monsters appeared before they began merging together. "And now the power of darkness has been unleashed; make way for the one and only Evil HERO Malicious Fiend" he said and a tall lanky figure with long wings and very sharp talons appeared on the field. He looked up with a dark grin flexing his claws (3500/2100).

"3500 attack points" Yubel gasped.

"That's right" Jaden smirked darkly. "With your Advanced Dark on the field you may not take damage, but you'll run out of monsters eventually. Malicious Fiend destroy Cobalt Eagle with Malicious Barrage." Malicious Fiend jumped into the air and with two swings blades shot out of the claws and struck Cobalt eagle destroying it. Yubel plucked a card from her hand revealing it to be Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth and discarded it.

"Wait, why did he attack Cobalt Eagle when he could've attacked the other one" Hassleberry asked confused.

"With Advanced Dark on the field as long as Yubel discards an Advanced Crystal Beast then all damage becomes zero" Zane said. "And if he attacked Ruby Carbuncle then on Yubel's turn she could activate its ability and bring all Advanced Crystal Beasts back to her field." While he spoke Zane only kept his eyes on Jaden 'Jaden' he thought.

"I end my turn" Jaden said.

Yubel drew a card and smirked something big "It's over now Jaden" she smirked. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" she said and Sapphire Pegasus reappeared on the field. "And now that it's back I can activate its effect again and I choose to place Amethyst Cat in the spell and trap card zone" she said and then an Amethyst stone appeared in the spell and trap card zone.

Jaden's eyes narrowed before they widened slightly "Oh damn it" he cursed.

"That's right; now that seven Advanced Crystal Beasts are either on the field or in my graveyard I can now summon my most powerful beast" Yubel said victoriously. "Rise and destroy Jaden, Rainbow Dark Dragon." A massive black dragon with rainbow jewels imbedded in its body appeared on the field roaring at Jaden loudly (4000/0).

"No" Jim gasped. "His monster can't stand up to that power."

"He's in trouble" Axel said quietly.

"It's over Jaden; there's no card in your deck that can stand up to this amount of firepower" Yubel laughed. "Now Rainbow Dark Dragon destroy his Malicious Fiend" she roared and Rainbow Dark Dragon fired a blast of rainbow energy that completely decimated Malicious Fiend.

Yubel: 4000

Jaden: 3500

Jaden meanwhile barely even flinched from the attack "Now you're finished Jaden; you can't win."

"Wrong" Jaden responded.

"What" Yubel gasped.

"You should save your gloating for later" he advised "I activate the trap card Malicious Mind Control." His trap card flipped up revealing a picture of Malicious Fiend and Malicious Edge with the mind control swirl behind them.

"What does that do" Yubel asked.

"I'll tell you what it does" Jaden said. "It activates when you destroy either Malicious Fiend or Malicious Edge. The monster that destroyed it now becomes mine."

"What, no" Yubel shouted as Rainbow Dark Dragon flew off of her field and landed on Jaden's field.

"Now Rainbow Dark Dragon is mine" Jaden said. "And with its power I will now free Jesse and send everyone home."

"NO" Yubel roared.

"I'm not done yet" Jaden said plucking one card from his hand "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and with it I'm going to destroy Advanced Dark." The spell card exploded "And with Advanced Dark gone so are all the Advanced Crystal Beasts on the field." Ruby Carbuncle and Sapphire Pegasus vanished along with the three stones in the spell and trap card zone. "Now you're field is empty, you got no spell and trap cards on the field and even your hand is totally empty. It's over Yubel."

"No it's not over; not yet" she shouted.

"It is over; Rainbow Dark Dragon attack" Jaden roared and Rainbow Dark Dragon launched a large blast of power that completely enveloped Yubel and her final scream echoed long after the attack hit.

Jaden: 3500

Yubel: 0

And like that it was over and when the blast cleared Jesse was lying there "Jesse" Jaden cried running up to him. When he got there he crouched down and held Jesse in his arms. The others ran over to him "Jesse are you okay; say something."

Jesse didn't respond for a moment before he finally opened his eyes and they were no longer the orange color of Yubel's, but back to their regular jade color. "Jaden" he said quietly.

Jaden smiled "Hey Jesse; I told you I'd get you back."

Jesse smiled and grabbed Jaden's hand "Thanks Jay" he whispered. Slowly, but surely Jaden helped Jesse stand up and then he was facing his friends.

"Guys… I..." Jaden said quietly.

"Don't say anything else" Aster said raising his hand, but was smiling.

"Yeah Jaden; Syrus told us everything" Atticus said with a smile of his own. "It's all cool."

"Yeah Sarge; we all forgive you" Hassleberry said with a thumbs up.

"So you made a mistake slacker; not like it hasn't happened before" Chazz smirked.

"It's all good mate" Jim nodded to him.

"You weren't yourself Jaden; everything's fine now" Axel told him.

Alexis stepped forward "We all forgive you Jaden" she said with a positively gorgeous smile.

Jaden couldn't believe what he heard, but he smiled "Thanks guys" he said. "Now come on; we need to find a way out of here." Before they could start setting out suddenly wind began to pick up followed by a malevolent aura. "No… no, no, no, no" Jaden groaned turning around with Jesse still on his shoulder and everyone else turning as well.

Glowing dark energy swirled around in front of them before it formed a giant face of Yubel "You haven't beaten me Jaden" she shouted before suddenly the energy formed into a large bipedal dark dragon with nasty face on its chest and long arms with Yubel standing on the top of its head.

Everyone gasped in shock at the monster "You just don't give up do you" Jaden glared.

"Of course I don't; I will never stop" Yubel glared. "If I'm gone who will protect you; you may have the power of the Supreme King, but you do not have the full control of it. You must be protected, you must remain safe and you must master your power until the time comes when you must face the great evil."

"What evil; what are you talking about" Chazz yelled at Yubel.

"Let's not stick around to find out" Crowler said nervously.

Jaden stared at Yubel now; what did she mean by protect him after everything she did she wanted to protect him. Suddenly Jaden's mind was assaulted by visions.

"What the…" he gasped when he saw himself floating in the sky. He saw an ancient looking kingdom. He saw a man that looked like a king along with a young girl with medium length blue hair and green eyes.

"Yubel, listen closely there is something I wish to tell you" the king said.

"Yes sir" the young girl responded. Jaden gasped; that girl was Yubel.

"Long ago before life was created the universe was balanced by both light and darkness" the king began. "The light was chaotic and evil and spread it's destruction along everywhere until the darkness banished the light and created all life, but chaos and light waves are soon to be spreading throughout the universe again and threaten to destroy all life. Only the one born with the power of the Gentle Darkness can stop it; the Supreme King. He is here, it is my son the prince, but he is only a temporary vessel for its power. The darkness shall pass through time until it finds its true vessel where it will remain in that line forever. Someone must follow through time and protect the heir to the darkness until he is ready."

"Please my king, let that be me" Yubel begged.

Now Jaden was witnessing a whimpering Yubel being tied to a table while doctors were all around her "You have chosen to protect the will of the Supreme King" one of the doctors said. "To ensure your success you must receive the dragon's heart." Jaden was unable to watch and closed his eyes trying to block out Yubel's screams of agony.

"Don't do it" a young voice cried. Jaden turned with a gasp and saw the one who he guessed was the Prince. He looked just like Jaden when he was younger "Stop it" he shouted running into the room right through Jaden.

"It's like me and Yubel in the past" Jaden realized. He gasped "I remember it." He then witnessed the young prince and the now demonetized Yubel talking.

"Why'd you do it Yubel; please tell me, I don't understand" the prince cried tears going down his face.

"Of course you don't, but know this I did this for you" Yubel said softly.

"Okay, but I'm going to make it up to you" the prince vowed. "I'll always be with you so you're never alone."

The visions ended and Jaden found himself back in the present staring at Yubel; one single tear slid down his eye. No one, but Yubel noticed. Jaden untangled himself from Jesse and stepped forward "Jaden" Jesse said.

Jaden turned back to them and they witnessed his eyes turning back to the evil golden color of the Supreme King "Sorry guys" he whispered before turning back around and lifting his hand. "Bvtmon Tabges Babalon" he chanted in another language.

Suddenly the air distorted in front of Jaden and a black hole completely opened up in front of him with the wind threatening to suck him in; Yubel widened her eyes as she saw what he had used. "Jaden; what are you doing" Axel shouted.

Jaden turned to them with a sad smile on his face his eyes back to normal "Sorry guys, but… this is something I have to do. To protect you guys and save the world; goodbye, I'll miss you all." With another smile to them all Jaden closed his eyes and leaned back letting the wind take him.

"NO" many voices cried at once. Jesse and Alexis lunged for Jaden just as Yubel charged at him. Yubel grabbed him first and was going to pull him back up, but Jaden just smiled at her and grabbed her arm before pulling. Jesse and Alexis were just out of reach and were unable to grab him.

They could only watch in helpless horror as Jaden and Yubel fell through the black hole disappearing into the darkness. Then suddenly the world exploded in light and they knew no more.

SCENE CHANGE

Back at Duel Academy everyone was rushing towards the sight of the old ruins as they heard a massive explosion. They really hoped everyone was okay and as they got there they saw everyone was back.

"Jaden… why'd you do it" Jesse whispered quietly trying to hold back his tears. Alexis had no such qualms and tears freely spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks.

Chancellor Shepherd walked up to them "Jaden, where is he" he asked quickly.

Jesse finally let his tears spill as he said "Up there… he's now among the stars."

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Two)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

The following two weeks since the trip to the other dimension everything had gone back to normal, well mostly gone back to normal. Axel and Jim had said their goodbyes and went back to their academies, Atticus went back to his typical lifestyle of playing his ukulele and picking up girls and Aster went back to the Pro Leagues. Zane, after being revived, decided to forgo using the Cyberdark deck and gifted the deck to his brother Syrus to combine with his Roid deck and declared Syrus the new Cyber Duelist and told him he would build an entirely new deck from scratch. Chazz, Hassleberry and Syrus tried moving on with their lives, but it was easier said than done. Although Chazz and Syrus had moved onto Obelisk Blue they still resided at the Slifer Dorm with everyone else.

The ones who were still not coping too well with what happened were Jesse and Alexis. Jesse had decided to transfer to Duel Academy instead of returning to North Academy because he wanted to be there when his friend came back. Jesse still held onto the hope that Jaden was still alive out there and would one day return.

Alexis was also still holding onto the hope that he would return, but it was also hard for her to go on with the day because she knew Jaden was no longer with them. She realized this fact a long time ago, right after Jaden and Syrus defeated the Paradox brothers, she was in love with him. She couldn't help it, he was so kind, so caring, so funny, and a little dense in the cute way. He was a great duelist and he was very handsome. She wished she could see him one more time and if she did she'd kiss him right then and there no matter who else was there.

As Alexis was walking along that one late Saturday night she was looking up at the sky while standing near the cliff. She looked up and saw a shooting star "Jaden… I wish you'd come back to us… and back to me" she whispered a single tear falling from her eye. She then heard something before looking up and then realized that shooting star she saw was getting bigger.

Now would be a good time to duck and so she did with a small yelp as a flaming star shot over her and impacted about thirty feet behind her. Alexis ran into the woods to see what the heck just happened, but when she burst into the clearing she gasped.

Because standing in the crater was not a star, well not of the meteorite kind. It was a person; he stood tall at about 6'1 with long brown hair with a caramel spot on top. He wore red shoes, dark black pants, and a sleeveless black V-neck shirt with a long red jacket hanging from his shoulders. He wore a double wrapped chain bracelet on his right wrist, a chain belt hanging diagonally on his hip with a regular red belt around his pants along with a unique looking necklace around his neck. He turned to look at Alexis and opened his eyes revealing them to be chocolate brown colored.

He smiled at her "Hey Alexis" Jaden Yuki said softly his voice a little deeper than she remembered.

"Jaden" she said quietly before a smile worked its way to her face and then she threw herself at him and… yeah, she kissed him. As for the newly returned Jaden all he could do was widen his eyes to near impossible proportions and his face turned bright red.

'Well I didn't expect this kind of welcome back' Jaden thought now getting his thoughts back. When Alexis eventually pulled back they were staring deep into each other's eyes; brown met hazel. "Hey" he finally said.

"Hey yourself" she said back. "Welcome back Jaden" she said hugging him tightly again afraid he'd disappear.

Jaden finally put his arms back around her "It's great to be back" he said.

SCENE CHANGE

Back in the Slifer dorm the entire gang, minus the ones who left or graduated, were in the main room. Jesse and Chazz were having a mock duel with Syrus and Hassleberry cheering from the sidelines. Blair was also sitting on the sidelines watching the duel with Pharaoh in her lap.

Then Alexis walked in "Hey guys" she greeted.

"Hey Alexis" Syrus greeted. "You're just in time; Jesse is about to mop the floor with Chazz."

"Shut it pipsqueak" Chazz snapped comically at him.

Alexis chuckled a bit "Well as amusing as that sounds I've got a surprise for you all" she said. All of them stopped and stared at Alexis confused before Alexis turned around "Alright, come on in." Then a familiar face appeared from around the door followed by the rest of him. Jaden Yuki stepped into the doorway staring at them all.

"Hey guys" he said.

For a moment it was nothing, but silence until suddenly he was bum rushed by a Syrus, Hassleberry, Blair and even Chazz. There was so much talking and crying, Syrus and Hassleberry, looking quite comical by the way, Jaden could barely understand what was being said.

After a moment Jaden and Jesse faced each other before Jesse walked forward and enveloped Jaden in a tight hug. Jaden smiled and hugged him back; nothing needed to be said. This one hug expressed all the words they needed to say.

SCENE CHANGE

All of them were now sitting in Chazz's room since it was the most spacious one; all of them were sitting on his large bed with all of them surrounding Jaden. "It's great to have you back and all Jay, but how did you even get back" Syrus asked.

Jaden sighed a bit rubbing his head "That's a complex story; let's just say I had a few things to settle where I couldn't be disturbed and once I settled them I came back."

"Yeah, but please explain why jumping through a black hole with Yubel solved that problem" Chazz said sarcastically.

Jaden rubbed the back of his head "It was mostly spur of the moment with that; I just had to get you guys back and deal with Yubel."

"So everything's okay now" Syrus asked.

Jaden nodded "Yeah, everything's good now" he said with a smile. However only Jesse and Alexis could tell that he didn't truly mean what he was saying. Alexis decided to let it go and store it in her mind for later, but Jesse wasn't going to let it go just like that.

For the next hour Jaden spent time catching up with everyone before everyone departed to go to bed. Jaden was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again, but before he could get to his door he felt a hand on his shoulder "Jaden" the voice of Jesse said.

Jaden turned and saw a serious look on Jesse's face "What is it Jesse?"

"Something's still wrong isn't it Jaden" Jesse said straightforward. Jaden was silent "You're my best friend Jaden; I know you, if something's still wrong you can tell me and us; we're your friends."

"Friends that keep getting in trouble because of me" Jaden said quietly.

Jesse heard him though "Jaden" he said surprised.

"The whole time I've been at this Academy every year one after another there's been some maniac that keeps coming after me" Jaden said gravely. "And each time they've always endangered my friends, but this time was the last straw. So I…"

"Jaden" Jesse said softly.

Jaden faced his friend "It'd be better if I go alone from now on."

Jesse could see how much pain Jaden was in from having to say this and in a way he was right; Jesse had heard all the stories that Jaden had encountered when he was at the Academy. But this wasn't the way to deal with it "Jaden, you know that no matter what happens, no matter who's after you… your friends will always have your back."

"And put their lives on the line for my sake" Jaden said his voice raised slightly. "No one's gonna die… not for me."

"And how do you think we'd feel if something happened to you and we weren't there to prevent it" Jesse said also raising his voice. Jaden went quiet and Jesse lowered his voice down a bit "Jaden, whether you like it not, you're stuck with all of us… for life" he smiled.

Jaden let a smile come to his face "Thanks Jesse" he said hugging his friend once more. "Give me some time Jesse; I'll tell you guys everything soon."

"No problem Jaden" Jesse said and he smiled once more. Jaden felt less stressed after talking about it. Yet as Jaden lied in his bed the worries came to him once again.

"Jaden" the voice of Yubel said to him softly. "You know what you must do."

"… I know Yubel" Jaden responded out loud just as softly before rolling over to his side. 'The rogue agent of darkness will show his face soon, but after that… the Supreme King will do battle with the Transcendent Emperor.'

Yubel looked down on Jaden; he looked so depressed, so sad and so… vulnerable. Like a mother would her child Yubel held Jaden softly "This is the burden the Supreme King carries. To protect all life you must fight the Light of Destruction."

'I know' Jaden replied quietly before he fell into a deep slumber.

The next day Jaden was going right back to his classes and the entire student body was reacting well to Jaden's return. Although Alexis noticed, with a bit of dread, that Jaden was getting more female attention at the moment. She really didn't like how Blair kept undressing him with her eyes when she thought no one was looking.

However despite that everyone noticed that Jaden was distracted; he kept a melancholic look on his face the whole time and stared off into space distracted. He would sometimes twitch his eyes to the window with a narrowed look before turning back to the front just as fast.

After class ended and everyone exited class; Alexis and Jesse were walking with Jaden. "You okay Jaden" Alexis asked concerned. "You looked really distracted in there."

"I'm fine" Jaden said with a convincing smile. Alexis frowned knowing he was lying and by the look on Jesse's face she knew he thought the same. Sharing a look they nodded and both of them grabbed Jaden by the arms and dragged him off "Uh, guys" Jaden said confused and nervous as they ignored him and dragged him off. Next thing Jaden knew he was dragged into a part of the surrounding forest "Guys, why'd you drag me out here?"

"Jaden" Alexis began. "Due to our friendship and my respect for you I've left you alone and not pushed you to tell me what's wrong. But I'm really concerned for you; you say that you're alright, but you look like you're on guard all the time."

"She's right Jaden" Jesse said seriously. "You look like you're ready to be attacked any minute now. We're really worried about you."

Now Jaden felt even worse. He wanted to stop his friends from getting hurt because of him, but here he was doing exactly what he didn't want to do. Jaden looked away ashamed before speaking "Guys… I –" Jaden was interrupted when all of a sudden cards began to swirl around them.

"What the…" Jesse gasped as the wind began to pick up. The cards swirling around them suddenly converged together and formed a person. This person was dressed in black spiky near skintight armor with red lines and spikes along the shoulders. He had a narrow face, black sunglasses and spiky, slick black hair.

Unlike his companions Jaden wasn't afraid; his eyes were narrowed in anger. "So you finally show yourself" he said.

The man chuckled darkly "We've waited a long time for you to come back… my king." Jesse and Alexis were wide eyed as they looked at Jaden only to gasp when his brown eyes turned golden. "That look in your eyes… I haven't seen it for many millennia."

"Well it's about time you're reminded of my power Trueman" Jaden said his voice sounding altered. "After all you're a traitor to the Darkness… you must be brought down."

The man called Trueman chuckled again "If that's the way it has to be Supreme King… then I'd love to see you try it." Lifting his left arm an artificial dark duel disk formed. Jaden strapped on his own duel disk and activated it.

"Jesse, Alexis" he said to his friends without looking at him. "Stand back."

'Jaden' they both thought before deciding it was best to do what he said.

"Duel" both Jaden and Trueman called. "If you don't mind I'll start" Jaden said drawing a card. Looking at his hand he made his move. "First I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode." His faithful earthen golem appeared on the field crouched down and arms crossed (800/2000). "After that I place one card face down, you're move."

"Why thank you" Trueman smirked. He drew a card and smirked "I activate the spell card Future Fusion. With this I can take monsters and fuse them together and in two turns that monster will appear on the field. So with that I'm going to take Des Volstgalph, Rare Metal Dragon, Spear Dragon, Spirit Ryu and Infernal Dragon and fuse them together to summon Five-Headed Dragon."

"Five-Headed Dragon, oh no" Jesse gasped knowing the strength of that card.

"But why wait for him to appear" Trueman continued with a nasty smirk. "I activate the spell card Turn Jump. With this spell card three turns have now passed so Future Fusion now activates and brings my monster to the field." And like that the massive Five-Headed Dragon appeared on the field (5000/5000). Trueman smirked at Jaden "But why leave him out here alone; I activate the spell card Dragon's Mirror. With this card I can remove from play the five dragons I just sent to the graveyard in order to summon a second Five-Headed Dragon." And like the first one a second Five-Headed Dragon appeared on the field (5000/5000).

"Impossible" Alexis gasped. "He summoned two Five-Headed Dragon's in one turn. Jaden" she looked at Jaden worriedly, but Jaden remained supremely calm, which shocked her slightly.

"I expected more of a challenge Supreme King, but this was utterly disappointing" Trueman said arrogantly.

"You think it's over" Jaden asked calmly. He smirked at Trueman "Fool, you didn't even notice I activated a trap card." Trueman widened his eyes when he saw Jaden's card. "That's right it's my Summoning Clock trap card."

"Summoning Clock? When did Jaden have that card" Jesse wondered out loud.

"My Summoning Clock works as such" Jaden explained. "For every turn that has passed all I have to do is sacrifice this card and a monster." On his field Clayman and the trap card vanished "And in return I can summon a new monster for each turn that has passed."

Trueman glared "And thanks to my Turn Jump three turns have passed."

"Exactly" Jaden smirked. "So I summon Elemental HERO Necroshade (1600/1800), Necro Gardna (600/1300), and Elemental HERO Bladedge (2600/1800). All in defense mode."

Trueman was not happy "It matters not; you will still lose those monsters. Five-Headed Dragons destroy his Bladedge and Necroshade." The two Five-Headed Dragons attacked and although Jaden's monsters were strong, they weren't strong enough to withstand the attacks of the two monsters and were destroyed. Thankfully Jaden suffered no life point loss.

"Whoo that was a nice save" Jesse breathed out.

"You're only delaying the inevitable. I place one card face down and end my turn" Trueman said.

"Then it's my move" Jaden said drawing a card. "First I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Drawing his two cards Jaden smirked almost maliciously. "I activate the spell card Dark Desolation." The spell card showed a picture of a complete and bleak dark ground with a single beast riding around atop the field.

"What does that do" Trueman sneered at him.

"First I must sacrifice half of my life points" Jaden said.

Trueman: 4000

Jaden: 2000

"And then by doing so I can summon one Level 10 DARK-attribute monster from my deck to the field ignoring all of its summoning conditions" Jaden said. "And the card I'm going to summon is a special card I won when I rescued everyone from the other dimension."

Jesse and Alexis were confused; what card was he talking about.

"Now I summon you to the field; Rainbow Dark Dragon" Jaden shouted. A massive dark light appeared and in a burst of wind there was Rainbow Dark Dragon with a mighty roar (4000/0).

Jesse remembered that card 'The Rainbow Dark Dragon' he thought amazed. The card looked just like his own Rainbow Dragon. 'So Jaden kept that card.'

Trueman scowled "That dragon might be powerful, but it won't stop me alone."

"That's true, which is why I'm not done yet" Jaden said. "I'm activating Necroshade's special ability. An ability that allows me to summon an Elemental HERO to the field without a sacrifice. So come on out Elemental HERO Neos." Out came Jaden's signature Neos card (2500/2000). "But if you think that's it then you're crazy; I activate Polymerization and fuse Neos and Rainbow Dark Dragon in order to summon the one and only Rainbow Neos." A colossal monster standing even taller than the Five-Headed Dragon's appeared on the field with a mighty roar (4500/3000).

Jesse, Alexis and Trueman were absolutely astounded at the sheer size of the monster and the power it radiated. "It's still too weak" Trueman managed to say, but still sounded unsure.

"That may be true, but it doesn't matter" Jaden said. "Because I don't trust that facedown card of yours I activate Mystical Space Typhoon. With this that facedown card of yours is destroyed." The trap card 'Skill Drain' was revealed and destroyed.

Trueman growled "You may have destroyed my trap card, but it doesn't matter. Your monster is still 500 points weaker than both of my dragons."

"Do you ever stop talking" Jaden glared at him silencing Trueman. "Do you really think I'm not aware of that? I know Rainbow Neos is weaker than your monsters, but that doesn't matter. Not when I activate one of Rainbow Neos' special abilities."

"What" Trueman gasped.

"That's right; I remove Necro Gardna from the field and to my graveyard and in return all monsters on your side of the field are shuffled back into your deck" Jaden said.

"They're what" Trueman gasped as Necro Gardna vanished in a rainbow light as did both Five-Headed Dragons. "Impossible."

"Very possible" Jaden smirked. "And now your field is completely empty. Rainbow Neos let's end this rogue agent of darkness and put him back in his place. Attack him directly with Rainbow Radiance." Rainbow Neos launched a beam of rainbow colored energy directly at Trueman and it hit making him roar as the pure energy from Neos tore through him.

Jaden: 2000

Trueman: 0

Rainbow Neos vanished as the duel ended and when the smoke cleared all that was left of Trueman was a single card. Walking over Jaden picked up the card and his eyes glowed briefly once more, as did the card, before going back to their normal brown.

Turning around to see his shocked friends Jaden rubbed the back of his head "I've got some explaining to do don't I?" Two severe looks and nods was the answer he got.

SCENE CHANGE

Jaden sat in his room with Jesse and Alexis now "Alright… I don't know how to begin."

"Why don't you start from the beginning" Jesse suggested. "Like who was that guy?"

Jaden nodded "That guy we saw was an agent of the darkness. He doesn't have a name, but he calls himself Trueman because he claims to always tell the truth."

"And why was he after you" Alexis asked. "And why did he call you the Supreme King?"

Jaden's eyes darkened slightly before going back to normal. "For this I'm going to have to start from the very beginning. Long ago, before life even existed the universe was bound by two entities; The Light of Destruction and The Gentle Darkness. For many eons the light reigned with chaos and evil and destroyed anything it wanted to until the light had vanished. Seeing its chance the Darkness took over the universe and created all life in this universe. For many eons darkness continued to create life and watch over the universe, but the light returned and threatened to destroy all life. However the darkness foresaw this and bestowed all of its power onto one single being. That being would be known as the Supreme King."

Jesse and Alexis were wide eyed as they stared at Jaden "A-And you're that being" Jesse stammered slightly.

Jaden nodded slightly "Yes; a long time ago, maybe eight or nine thousand years ago, the Supreme King was born in a kingdom in the form of a young prince. However that prince was just a temporary vessel for the Gentle Darkness as the power would pass through time until it found its true vessel in which the darkness would remain in that person and that person's line for all of eternity. In order to make sure the vessel would be protected someone had to volunteer to become a guardian and follow through time to protect the vessel until it had mastered the powers of the darkness. That guardian… was Yubel" he said pulling the card from his deck box to show to them.

That made them both gasp again as they stared at the card that had caused them all so much pain in the past few months. "B-But why did she do what she did if she was supposed to protect you" Alexis asked looking so confused.

Now Jaden looked very regretful "In my childhood Yubel was my favorite card and whenever I dueled and I got a chance to summon her every one of my opponents would collapse and go into comas." Jesse and Alexis widened their eyes in horror "Yubel wanted to protect me from everything that would've caused me harm, even emotional harm. Because of her I didn't really have any friends until I came here and met all of you. Anyway, when I was a child I won a contest from Kaiba-Corp to create new card designs and send them into space to be influenced by cosmic waves; I won and I sent Yubel away hoping to help her. Only a little while ago did I realize what a mistake I had made."

Alexis still looked a little confused, but mostly saddened at seeing Jaden look so sad. Jesse was the one to figure it out "Is that why she went crazy… because you sent her away."

"That's partially the reason" Jaden admitted. "Another reason is because while she was in space she was corrupted by the Light of Destruction. That's another reason I dragged us both into the black hole. I had to purge Yubel of the Light to turn her back to normal. While I was in there I also learned to control the powers of the Gentle Darkness and the Supreme King."

"Is that why that guy was after you" Alexis asked.

"Yes" Jaden nodded. "Trueman is actually a darkness agent that once served the past Supreme King, the one before me. He was an agent, and a spy, but he betrayed the Supreme King with another agent of darkness and fled using the darkness to destroy and kill. As the current Supreme King it is my job to stop them. I defeated Trueman and all that's left is his master."

"Do you know who it is" Alexis asked.

Jaden nodded "You know him too Alexis."

"I do" she said confused.

"Yes, he once possessed Atticus and we dueled in the volcano" Jaden said.

Alexis gasped while Jesse looked confused "Nightshroud" was all Alexis could say.

Jaden nodded slightly "Nightshroud will appear eventually especially now that his henchman has been dealt with. Besides it's not him I'm worried about."

"Then what are you worried about" Jesse asked seeing as Alexis looked lost in her own little world.

"Like the Supreme King is the vessel for the Gentle Darkness, the Light of Destruction has its own vessel" Jaden told him. "The Transcendent Emperor."

"Transcendent Emperor" Jesse repeated quietly.

"A day will come sometime in the future when the Supreme King and the Transcendent Emperor will duel to decide the fate of life in this universe" Jaden said. "Should the Supreme King lose then the Light will be free to roam around unchallenged and destroy everything it touches. The Transcendent Emperor will rule the universe and all life will perish."

Jesse and Alexis, who had finally gotten over her shock, felt shivers of fear run up their spines. "A-And the alternative" Jesse swallowed nervously.

"Should the Supreme King be victorious the Light of Destruction shall be banished to deepest, darkest corner of the universe" Jaden responded. Jesse and Alexis looked relieved "But it will not last forever." Their relieved looks vanished as Jaden looked at them seriously "Darkness cannot exist without light; they are balanced, like Yin and Yang. They exist while having a piece of each other inside of them so as such it is impossible for either to be destroyed, just locked away until they can escape. The Supreme King exists to preserve life and balance and since I am the true Heir of the Gentle Darkness it is my responsibility, as well as the responsibility of my future descendants to guard the universe and protect it from the Light of Destruction. We will forever be locked in combat with the Light… to protect all life."

After Jaden's explanation the Slifer boy stepped out to let his two friend's time to comprehend everything he just said. Now Jaden stood outside facing the ocean as a cool breeze blew through the area. His jacket, hanging by his shoulders, blew through the air as the wind caressed his body.

This was it; Jaden had told them everything now. Now he could only wait quietly with trepidation on what their reaction would be. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear someone approaching him until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

Turning in surprise he saw "Alexis" he said softly.

Alexis stood quietly next to him as they both stared at the calm ocean "It must be a heavy burden" she said softly.

Jaden kept staring out before speaking "Yeah, but someone has to do it."

"But why you" Alexis said reaching out and gently turning his face towards her. She stared deep into his eyes "You had dreams; becoming a Pro-Duelist, entering the Master League… becoming the Next King of Games."

Jaden felt at peace feeling Alexis' soft hand on his cheek. Reaching up he took her hand in his own to keep it there "I guess this was just the hand I was dealt."

Despite the sadness in Jaden's eyes Alexis could also see the massive strength in them as well. "What are you going to do" she asked him.

"I guess after this year… I'll travel the world and wait until the time comes" Jaden responded. "Even after the duel and if I win… I don't think I can ever truly relax."

Alexis was silent for a moment before speaking "I'll go with you."

Jaden turned to her wide eyed "What?"

"My life has changed so much ever since you came into it Jaden" Alexis told him. "Your passion for dueling, your charismatic ways and how you help people. You're an amazing person Jaden and you've helped me in so many ways."

"Alexis" he said softly.

"You saved Atticus from Nightshroud, you saved me and everyone from the Grave Keeper's and you saved me from the Society of Light" Alexis continued. "Sure we had our problems with the whole Yubel incident, but we worked that out and you saved everyone again. You are honestly… the most amazing person I've ever known."

Jaden continued to stare at Alexis. The emotions he felt was something he had never felt before. Then Jaden remembered the kiss they shared when he had returned and blushed slightly. They never had a chance to talk about that; reaching up Jaden gently cupped her cheek. "Alexis… how long" he asked softly.

Alexis knew what he meant right away and with a smile she leaned up towards his face. "Ever since your tag-duel with Syrus" she whispered before kissing him. Jaden closed his eyes and put his arms around Alexis' waist. Her arms went up around his neck as they held each other and continued their kiss.

It was at this one particular moment that Jaden found something he loved even more than dueling; her name was Alexis Rhodes.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Three)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

The following day the talk of the academy was Alexis Rhodes going out with Jaden Yuki. Everyone one of them went people would be whispering about them, or in Jaden's case glaring at him. Whenever they were actually together everyone would literally stop and stare before moving on.

"You'd think people would have better things to gossip about" Alexis said leaning against Jaden as they sat under a tree. "The Tag Team Tournament is coming up in three days and all everyone does is keep asking me if you've got a 'HERO' tattoo on your chest."

Jaden laughed slightly "And what did you say?"

"I said it was a 'Rainbow Dark Dragon.' Much more macho" she responded as they both began to laugh. "Speaking of the Tag Team Tournament, are you going to sign up for it?"

"I'm always up for a tournament; what are the conditions" he asked.

"Since Hassleberry coordinated it all he told me about it" Alexis said. "Apparently it's Senior's against Junior's and it's going to be a huge upcoming graduation party."

"Sounds like fun" Jaden said before snuggling deeper against Alexis with his face resting near the crook of her neck. "Alexis" he said softly.

"Hmm" she turned to him.

"This is probably just the 'dumb guy' part of me speaking, but I have to know" Jaden began. "You had big plans to become a teacher, continue your schooling, possibly all the way in America yet you're giving it all up just to stay with me. How can you do it?"

Alexis smiled at him before chuckling slightly "You're right, that is the 'dumb guy' part of you speaking." Jaden sat up and looked at her "The reason is very simple Jaden; it's because I love you." Taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze she continued "The moment you captured my heart… I knew my world would revolve around you. And I don't have a single regret."

"You are amazing" Jaden said before giving her a small kiss. Alexis really wanted him to continue, but they were in public.

Thanks to Hassleberry the entire Tag Team Tournament was set up with it being a boy and girl pairing. Jaden laughed when he saw Syrus and Chazz sitting off to the side glaring at one another because they were unlucky enough to not get a partner.

To be in the tournament you had to have a partner of the opposite sex and in the same year. That's why Alexis and Jaden were partnered up because they were both in the same year and were of the opposite gender.

The tournament passed well and good with the matches flowing by just like that; Jaden and Alexis dominated every opponent they fought and in the end their last opponents were Jesse and Jasmine, who had managed to defeat Hassleberry and Blair.

Jaden and Jesse were smirking at each other before activating their duel disks "Alright Alexis, let's win this" Jaden said.

"Yeah" Alexis agreed also activating their duel disks.

"This is gonna be tough Jasmine, but let's do our best" Jesse smiled at her.

Jasmine blushed slightly "Y-Yeah."

"Duel" all four of them shouted.

"I'll start this out" Jesse said drawing a card. A smirk came to his face "First I'm going to send Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle to the graveyard in order to summon Rainbow Zombie." On the field appeared a ragged zombie in white wraps with crystal stubs all over its body (2000/2600).

Jaden was amazed "Whoa, when did you get that?"

"It's a new friend I made a few months ago along with a few more" Jesse smirked. "Now because he's new let me explain a few things for you. When Rainbow Zombie is summoned to the field in attack mode you automatically lose 500 life points." A small ball of rainbow energy struck both Jaden and Alexis.

Jesse/Jasmine: 4000

Jaden/Alexis: 3500

"Not bad at all" Jaden said impressed.

"Glad you like; I'll place one card face down and end my turn" Jesse said.

"Then it's my move" Alexis said drawing a card. "I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode" she said and her beloved Cyber Tutu appeared on the field. "Next I activate the spell card Prima Light. With this I sacrifice Cyber Tutu and now I can summon Cyber Prima." On her field a warrior lady with two golden rings floating around her abdomen appeared (2300/1600). "And with my Cyber Prima that zombie is gonna get buried again for a second time. Attack with Cyber Strafe."

Cyber Prima sped towards Rainbow Zombie and gave it a hard kick making it give a zombified moan before it exploded.

Jesse/Jasmine: 3700

Jaden/Alexis: 3500

"To end my turn I place two cards facedown" Alexis said.

"Sweet move Lex" Jaden grinned. Alexis blushed, but smiled back.

"It's my move" Jasmine said drawing a card. She looked at her hand and the field with a nervous look.

Jesse saw her look "It's okay Jasmine, you got this" he encouraged her. This nice words and kind smile gave her confidence.

"Alright then prepare yourselves" Jasmine said. "First thing I'm going to do is play the spell card Change of Heart." Activating her spell card she saw Alexis gasp "And with this card your Cyber Prima will become mine for one turn." An angelic being with one angel wing and one devil wing jumped over and into Cyber Prima before jumping over to Jasmine's side. "But don't think I'm done yet; I'm going to summon Harpie Lady" On the field appeared Harpie Lady (1300/1400).

"I know what's coming next; do it Jasmine" Jesse grinned.

"With pleasure; I now sacrifice these two monsters as tribute and activate Black Magic Ritual" Jasmine called as the two monsters vanished in an altar. "To summon the Magician of Back Chaos." On the field a magician in a black outfit with a long scepter appeared on the field (2800/2600).

"Whoa, I didn't know Jasmine had such a rare and powerful card" Jaden gasped.

"It's her favorite and most treasured one too" Alexis told him.

"Alright Magician of Black Chaos attack; Chaos Scepter Blast" Jasmine ordered. Her magician twirled his scepter before launching a large blast of blue magic. The blast headed right towards them and struck "Bet they felt that."

"Not quite" Alexis' voice said making her frown. The smoke cleared revealing them to be completely unharmed.

"What, but how" Jasmine gasped wide eyed.

"A little double facedown play" Alexis said showing her two cards. "I activated Monster Reborn to bring back Cyber Tutu and as the attack hit I activated the trap card Desperate Tag. If a monster I have is destroyed then all battle damage becomes zero and it allows me to summon a level 4 or lower warrior-type monster. So I'll summon Etoile Cyber (1200/1600)."

"Nice counter Alexis" Jasmine complimented her friend. "Don't think it'll save you next time."

"If there is a next time because it's my turn now" Jaden said drawing a card. He smirked "First thing's first I'm going to activate the spell card Fake Hero. With it I'm summoning Elemental HERO Neos to the field." Neos appeared on the field with a grunt "But he won't stick around because I'm activating the spell card Dedication through Right and Wrong."

The spell card depicted a darker looking Neos with a longer headpiece and a cape. "What, I've never heard of that" Jesse said.

"Then let me educate you" Jaden said with a smirk. "What this card does is tribute Neos in order for me to summon Elemental HERO Vigilante Neos." On the field Neos vanished and what appeared was a Neos monster that looked just like the Neos on the card he just played (2800/2600).

"His monster and mine have the same attack" Jasmine said gritting her teeth slightly.

"And now I activate Vigilante Neos' special ability" Jaden said. "It allows me to take any spell card from my deck and add it to my hand." Jaden searched his deck for a card, took it, and reshuffled his deck. "And now I'll activate that card; Direct Attack." It showed a picture of a monster charging right at another one "As its name implies Direct Attack allows a monster to directly attack as long as that monster is level 4 or less. You're up Alexis."

Alexis nodded with a smile "Etoile Cyber attack." Etoile Cyber charged forward right past the Magician of Black Chaos. "And of course you know when Etoile Cyber attacks directly her attack point's increase by 600." Etoile Cyber struck both Jesse and Jasmine directly.

Jaden/Alexis: 3500

Jesse/Jasmine: 1900

"Good move, but I have a counter" Jesse said activating a trap card. "Go Amethyst Cut." The trap card showed a picture of a sharp jagged amethyst crystal. "When you direct attacked us it allowed me to activate this trap card. With it I can summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat." A pink cat with a purple gem around her neck appeared on the field (1200/400). "But that's not all; a second effect of Amethyst Cut is that Amethyst Cat can attack directly. Go get 'em girl."

"Right" Amethyst Cat charged and slashed both Jaden and Alexis.

Jaden/Alexis: 2300

Jesse/Jasmine: 1900

"The final side effect is that Amethyst Cat must go into defense mode after the attack" Jesse said as Amethyst cat crouched into defense mode.

"Not bad Jesse, but we've still got our attacks left" Jaden smirked. "Vigilante Neos, Etoile Cyber attack Magician of Black Chaos and Amethyst Cat." Both monsters charged and while Etoile Cyber destroyed Amethyst Cat, both Vigilante Neos and Magician of Black Chaos destroyed each other. "Both our monsters may have destroyed each other, but when a monster is destroyed by Vigilante Neos it is removed from play instead of going to the graveyard."

Jesse grunted 'Good move; he erased our defense, but still managed to keep his own.'

"I place one card facedown and end my turn" Jaden said.

"Then it's me again" Jesse said drawing a card. Looking at his hand and field Jesse saw he only had an amethyst crystal in his spell and trap card zone and nothing else. "Alright first I activate Foolish Burial; with this spell card I can send one monster from my deck to the graveyard and I choose Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle."

Jesse sent the monster to the graveyard. "But I'm not done yet; next I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Drawing his cards Jesse smirked "And now I activate the spell card Crystal Recovery." The spell card showed someone diving into the ocean to retrieve gems that were floating away.

"Kay, what's it do" Jaden asked.

"What it does is allow me to call back as many Crystal Beasts as possible from my graveyard and summon them to the field so welcome back Cobalt Eagle and Ruby Carbuncle." Both Cobalt Eagle and Ruby Carbuncle appeared on the field. "And when Ruby Carbuncle is special summoned I can summon back as many crystal beasts as I can from my spell and trap card zone so Amethyst Cat is back."

Alexis 'tsked' "Jesse's as good as ever" she murmured.

"And now it's time to welcome a new friend of mine to the field" Jesse said. "I sacrifice Cobalt Eagle, Amethyst Cat and Ruby Carbuncle to summon the one and only Rainbow Knight." On the field a knight wearing pure white armor with crystal gems all along the armor wielding a large diamond sword appeared on the field (2800/2600).

A lot of people were in awe at the beautiful knight "He's a beauty ain't he" Jesse smirked. "He gets even better. When he's successfully summoned I can take up to two Crystal Beasts from my deck and place them in my spell/trap card zone so I'm taking Amber Mammoth and Topaz tiger and placing them in my spell/trap card zone." A topaz and amber stone appeared on his field. "And now Rainbow Knight attack her Etoile Cyber with Radiant Sword."

Rainbow Knight charged at Etoile Cyber and slashed her down in a mighty explosion of rainbow light.

Jesse/Jasmine: 1900

Jaden/Alexis: 700

"Alright Jesse; that took a huge chunk of their life points" Jasmine cheered giving Jesse a grin.

"Ah shucks, it was nothing" Jesse blushed slightly.

The smoke cleared and Jaden and Alexis were recovering from the blast. "Those new cards of his are deadly; we need something for defense." Alexis drew a card and scowled "This would have been perfect if Etoile Cyber was still here."

"And she can be; use my card Alexis" Jaden said.

Alexis assessed Jaden's card and smiled "Thanks, I will." Turning to her opponents she called "Alright I activate Monster Reborn." She activated Jaden's monster reborn "And with it I summon back Etoile Cyber." Etoile Cyber reappeared on the field once more "And now I'm going to fuse my reborn Etoile Cyber with the Blade Skater in my hand in order to summon Cyber Blader in defense mode." A monster with skates and red skater outfit appeared crouched down on the field (2100/800). "And to end my turn I place one card face down on the field."

"We got this Jesse" Jasmine said drawing a card. "I know Alexis' deck well; her Cyber Blader can't be destroyed with only one monster on the field, but when there's two her attack points are doubled, but in defense mode that's useless."

"Really" he asked excitedly "Alright Jasmine, let's end it."

"You got it; first I summon Harpie Lady in attack mode" she said summoning a Harpie Lady to the field (1300/1400). "Next I'm going to activate Elegant Egotist. Now one Harpie becomes three; welcome Harpie Lady Sisters." A trio of Harpie Ladies appeared on the field (1950/2100). "Alright Harpie Lady Sisters destroy that Cyber Blader with whirlwind claw."

The Harpie Lady Sisters attacked, but Alexis smirked "Good try, but not enough. I activate Mirror Wall." On the field a clear shield appeared and Harpie Lady Sisters hit the wall and they grimaced in pain as their attack strength dropped in half (975/2100). "As long as Mirror Wall is activated all attacks are negated and the attack strength is cut in half."

Jasmine grunted "I forgot about that trap; no matter she can't afford to keep it anyway. Next turn we'll get them; I cancel the battle faze and end my turn."

'Unfortunately she's right' Alexis thought. 'We don't have 2000 points to waste to keep Mirror Wall; it's going to be destroyed next turn.' Looking to her boyfriend Alexis thought 'It's all up to Jaden now.'

Jaden drew his card and looked at his hand. Destroying Mirror wall since he couldn't keep it up Jaden looked at the card he drew. "I activate Card of Sanctity. Everyone must draw until they have six cards." Jaden drew five cards, Alexis drew four, Jesse drew five and Jasmine drew four.

Jaden looked at his new hand "Well Jesse, Jasmine, you guys put up a good duel, but this is where it all ends."

"What" they both said.

"First I activate the spell card Code Change" Jaden said. "With this card I can change the text written on any monster I choose to a different type. I change the Warrior Type written on Cyber Blader to a Fiend Type."

"And just what will that accomplish" Jasmine glared at him.

"Plenty" Jaden smirked. "It will allow me to do this. I activate Dark Fusion and with it I'm going to fuse Cyber Blader with the Evil HERO Malicious Edge in my hand in order to summon a new monster. Make way for the one and only Evil HERO Malicious Fiend." On the field appeared a massive monster with a twisted grin and long sharp talons (3500/2100).

"3500 attack points" Jasmine gasped.

"It's okay Jasmine" Jesse said comfortingly. "That monster may be powerful, but no matter which monster it attacks we'll be able to last another turn."

"Oh is that what you think Jesse" Jaden said teasingly. "Allow me to prove otherwise. You see Malicious Fiend's special ability is that he can make all your monsters attack him during battle."

"He what" they both gasped.

"Malicious Fiend attack Harpie Lady Sisters with Malicious Barrage" Jaden ordered. Jumping into the air Malicious Fiend launched a massive barrage of blades that struck the Harpie Lady Sisters destroying them in a mighty explosion.

Jaden/Alexis: 700

Jesse/Jasmine: 350

"And now Rainbow Knight will attack" Jaden said as Rainbow Knight jumped towards Malicious Fiend. The Evil HERO merely widened his smirk before slashing through Rainbow Knight like he was made of butter and he blew up in another massive explosion.

Jaden/Alexis: 700

Jesse/Jasmine: 0

"And that's game" both Jaden and Alexis said in unison pulling Jaden's famous pose.

Jesse laughed "That was a great duel" he told them both. Seeing Jasmine's sad look Jesse spoke again "Hey buck up, we did our best."

She looked at him "B-But we still lost."

"Winning isn't everything in dueling" Jesse told her. "Having fun should be the most important thing; did you have fun?"

"You know what… I did, I really did" Jasmine said with a smile.

"That's the smile I'm looking for" Jesse grinned at her making her blush. "It was really fun dueling with you Jasmine; maybe one day we could duel each other."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun" she said with a smile. Alexis smiled slightly as she saw one of her best friends talk with Jesse. Jasmine and Mindy, her other best friend, were famous for liking handsome and cute boys, but to Alexis this looked like the first time Alexis saw Jasmine really talk with a boy.

The last few months at the Academy was so peaceful that it was almost unnerving, but it felt so nice that Jaden had finally begun to relax. He got to hang out with his friends, duel them for fun, watch Chazz react with extreme jealousy when he found out he and Alexis were together. It was so peaceful that Jaden could sleep without trouble.

But of course the phrase 'anything that can go wrong will go wrong' reared its ugly head in the picture. It was on a Saturday afternoon and Jaden was sleeping in late; Alexis was sleeping next to him with their arms wrapped around each other. They had known and trust each other long enough to be able to sleep comfortably together even though they had only been officially together for a month.

Jaden was the first one to awaken and when he did he noticed it was still dark 'Back to bed then' he thought sleepily before snugging up to Alexis. Then his eyes popped open when he saw the alarm clock.

It was 11:30 a.m.

Quickly Jaden jumped out of bed and ran to the window and threw the drapes open and to his shock it was completely black outside and the sun was being eclipsed. "Oh, not good" he murmured before running over to the bed. "Alexis, Alexis wake up" he shook her.

"Mmm" she moaned. "Jaden, come back to bed, it's too early."

"No Alexis, this is an emergency" Jaden said urgently.

Alexis opened her eyes with a yawn "Ah, Jaden, it's still nighttime" she said sleepily rubbing her eye.

"Alexis, it's almost noon" Jaden said seriously. Alexis was wide awake after that and ran to the window looking outside seeing the eclipsed sun and darkness.

"What's going on" she asked nervously.

"I have a hunch; I just hope I'm wrong" he muttered slipping his shoes on and grabbing his duel disk and deck. Alexis put her boots on and grabbed her dueling gear and followed Jaden out of the room. First they ran to the other rooms in the dorms, but it was empty. The same for the other dorms, all were empty, even the main academy building where classes normally were. It was all empty.

"They're gone" Alexis said in astonishment. They were currently inside the Academy building "Are we all that's left?"

"It looks like it" Jaden said looking at the computers. "The whole Academy is deserted; whoever did this took everyone."

Suddenly dark laughter echoed all around them making them jump close to each other to cover one another. "Jaden Yuki" a dark voice said. "Come outside, it's time we settle this."

"Jaden" Alexis said nervously looking at her lover.

Jaden gave her a reassuring look "It's okay Alexis; I got this" he said taking her hand. Alexis squeezed his hand tightly for a second before the two of them exited the building and went outside to the main walkway.

The dimension in front of them distorted before a single person was revealed. The person was massive shrouded in a dark aura and an equally black cloak with six bat-like wings coming from the back. A ribcage could be seen from under the cloak and the face was like that of a dragon, all skull and no skin, with glaring blue eyes with a hood over the head.

Jaden glared at him "So you show yourself; the traitor of the Supreme King and the Gentle Darkness, Nightshroud."

"I am pleased that after all this time you remember me my King" Nightshroud said. "It will make this victory all the more rewarding; you will fall and my reign will be assured."

Jaden glared harsher at him "We will see about that; I've beaten everything else that destiny has thrown at me and I will continue to do so no matter what tries to stop me."

"Of that there is almost no doubt" Nightshroud agreed with him surprising both Jaden and Alexis. "If you had your full power that is."

"What" Jaden said with an alarmed look on his face.

Nightshroud chuckled darkly "So Yubel has not told you everything of your past. Oh how sweet."

"Enough, what are you talking about" Alexis shouted at him.

Nightshroud chuckled again "The Supreme King is the most sublime being of darkness. An entity that can glide through hell and not be affected with such a power that he can cast a shadow on darkness itself. A being beyond human and spirit. That is the Supreme King, a being who is unmatched, but only if that being has all the powers of darkness inside of them."

"You're not making any sense" Jaden shouted at him angrily.

"Then why don't I just show you" Nightshroud said maliciously. Lifting his hand Nightshroud launched two beams of dark energy that struck both Jaden and Alexis in their foreheads. Both of them screamed in pain from the attack before gasping as a vision swept through their heads.

FLASHBACK

Jaden and Alexis found themselves floating inside a palace dueling hall. Nightshroud screamed as he was launched back from a particularly nasty hit. His henchman, Trueman, was launched back as well. The attackers were Evil HERO Malicious Fiend and Evil HERO Lightning Golem.

The two Evil HERO's roared as they charged up their powers ready to end it when a voice rang out "That's enough." Jaden and Alexis turned and gasped.

Sitting in a chair looking like a perfect copy of Jaden in his late twenties was the Supreme King. His golden glowing eyes stared down at Nightshroud and Trueman like they were insects and his black armor gleamed ominously. But the real reason they gasped was because of the woman sitting next to him. She was dressed in similar black armor, but it was armor that only covered her waist, lower legs, upper torso, forearms and shoulders. She had long dirty blond hair and soft hazel eyes.

The woman looked just like Alexis.

"My liege" the two Evil HERO's bowed and stepped back as the Supreme King stepped off his throne and approached Nightshroud and Trueman.

The Supreme King stopped a safe distance away from them "This foolish game of yours is over Nightshroud" he said coldly. "Trying to usurp me will not lead to peace."

"You are a fool Supreme King" Nightshroud bellowed at him. "I have seen the world of darkness; that world will grant all eternal life and peace where no being will ever have any worry or fear. Your way will just continue with more death and loss."

"Your world of so called peace is a false peace" the Supreme King said bluntly. "There is no will or strength of character in that world. It's all in the head and not in real life and in reality would have humans and spirits alike crawling on all fours like beasts. And I will hear no more of this." Turning the Supreme King walked back to his throne "Dispose of these traitors."

The two Evil HERO's moved in to take them down, but Nightshroud was faster and shot up with an angry roar and launched a large beam of darkness. The two Evil HERO's prepared to defend themselves, but the beam shot between them. In horror they realized it was going for the Supreme King.

"MY KING" they both shouted, but it was too late. The Supreme King turned to defend himself, but went wide eyed when the woman sitting next to him on the throne before jumped in front of him and took the attack that was meant for him.

The woman began to fall, but the King caught her in his arms "Asuka… ASUKA" he shouted in panic. The woman groaned quietly and opened her eyes only to see the king's crying eyes "Why… why did you do that?"

The woman smiled weakly and reached up touching the king's cheek. "My beloved Judai… I love you" was all she managed to say before life left her body. For a single moment no one moved and no one even breathed as the realty set in.

One of the Evil HERO's murmured "The queen… she's…" Then both Evil HERO's faced a smug Nightshroud and Trueman "You bastard; you will pay."

"On the contrary" Nightshroud said standing up. "It is you who will pay; Trueman."

"Right" Trueman lifted both hands and a ray of darkness shot forward and impacted with both the king and his dead queen. The King roared in both emotional agony at the loss of his queen and physical agony from the pain he was feeling. Both Evil HERO's went to intercept the attacks when Nightshroud blasted them both through the wall.

Trueman laughed as he kept up the process until the golden eyes of the Supreme King vanished turning back to their regular brown color. After a few more minutes of screaming the black tendrils vanished leaving the Supreme King to collapse to the ground.

Nightshroud laughed victoriously as he took the powers that Trueman just drained from the Supreme King. "With you drained of more than 60% of your powers and the soul of your Queen trapped with us you have no will or power left to fight us. It is over Supreme King… you have lost."

Nightshroud and Trueman turned to leave, but suddenly were bound in dark pillars of energy. The Supreme King weakly got back up "I may have lost today, but a stronger Supreme King will come in time" he glared at the two traitors. "And when he does you will be brought to justice and the full power of the Gentle Darkness will return to its rightful vessel. Until then… rot in purgatory." Screaming and unleashing all his power the Supreme King flung the two of them into a massive portal before it closed.

Drained of all power and losing his life energy the Supreme King collapsed next to his beloved queen. "Asuka… my love… I'm sorry" he said before closing his eyes.

END FLASHBACK

Alexis and Jaden were thrown from the flashback roughly and were panting with wide eyes before looking back at Nightshroud. "So you see now" Nightshroud said. "I wanted to bring about a new world with no conflict and the Supreme King didn't agree. It's a shame his queen had to die… she was so beautiful."

Jaden grit his teeth harshly "You monster."

"True heroes are monsters; you should know that by now" Nightshroud said plainly. "But now you understand why you feel so at peace around this woman and why she was unaffected by my power; it's because she is the reincarnation of the woman who was the queen of the Supreme King. His one and only love."

"I know enough now" Jaden said glaring at Nightshroud. "All I have to do is defeat you, regain my full powers and I will set the queen free."

Nightshroud chuckled again "So you say, but don't think I'm going to make it easy." Before any of them could react Nightshroud lifted his hand and a single beam of darkness shot out and struck Alexis right in the middle of her torso.

Alexis could only stutter a small "Jaden" before losing her strength.

"ALEXIS, NO" Jaden screamed catching her in his arms. "No, no, no; look at me Alexis. It's okay, it's not even that bad, you're okay, you're okay" he spoke rapidly taking her hand and pressing tightly to her abdomen where blood was beginning to seep through.

Nightshroud found the whole display amusing "The wound isn't fatal, but it's infected with darkness; if you don't regain your full power soon she'll die."

Jaden grit his teeth in anger so hard that his gums began to bleed. Gently picking Alexis up he leaned her against a tree as she struggled to stay conscious. Once taking his spot again Jaden's eyes turned gold and a powerful dark aura exploded off of his body. "You will pay for this Nightshroud."

"Like I said to you all those millennia ago; it is you who will pay" Nightshroud said as his own duel disk activated. Jaden activated his duel disk.

"DUEL" they both shouted.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Four)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Nightshroud smirked seeing Jaden's fury; the fury of the Supreme King at less than half of his true power was intimidating, but not that much. "My turn" Nightshroud said drawing a card. "I summon Darkness Eye" he said as an eyeball appeared on the field (0/1000). "Now I play the field spell card Darkness." It just seemed to get even darker if possible. "Darkness allows me to set the trap cards Zero and Infinity from my hand as well as Darkness 1, Darkness 2, and Darkness 3 from my deck in any random order." All five trap cards appeared on the field "Darkness forbids me from looking at my set trap cards, but at the end of each turn Zero and Infinity are activated Darkness randomly rearranges all set trap cards."

Jaden said nothing and just drew his card. "Jaden" Yubel spoke hesitantly feeling his rage.

'Not now Yubel' he said coldly and firmly. Yubel closed her eyes and went back to Jaden's subconscious. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge" he said and a small hero with a childish face and ice spikes all over its body appeared on the field (800/900). "Now I activate the effect of Ice Edge. I discard one card from my hand and in return Ice Edge can attack you directly; go."

Ice Edge charged at Nightshroud, but Nightshroud countered. "I activate Zero, which also activates Infinity" he said. Both Zero and Infinity revealed themselves. "And when Zero and Infinity are activated all the set cards between them are activated." One card was between them and it revealed itself "Darkness 1! The effect of Darkness 1 is that one monster on your field is destroyed."

Ice Edge was immediately destroyed by the effects of Darkness 1. "I activate the spell card Relationship" Jaden countered playing the card. "When an Elemental HERO is destroyed I can summon another one from my hand or deck as long as it has the same attack. So I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in defense mode." Bubbleman appeared "And thanks to Bubbleman's effect, when he's summoned alone I get to draw two cards." Jaden drew his two cards "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Thanks to Darkness all of my cards are reset and rearranged" Nightshroud said as the cards rearranged themselves in the set position. Then Nightshroud drew a card "I activate the ability of Darkness Eye, an ability that lets me summon Darkness Destroyer without sacrificing." On the field a massive beast appeared on the field (2300/2100). "Now I activate the effect of Zero and Infinity. You know what this means." It couldn't get any worse as the cards between Zero and Infinity were all of them. "Darkness 2 activates giving Darkness Destroyer 1000 attack points until the end phase (2300+1000=3300/2100). The second ability is that Darkness Destroyer gains another 1000 points for each Darkness monster on the field." There were two of them so Darkness Destroyer gained 2000 more attack points (3200+2000=5300/2100).

"Darkness Destroyer attack" Nightshroud commanded. Darkness Destroyer charged at Jaden ready to end the duel in one fell swoop "When Darkness Destroyer attacks a monster in defense mode the difference in points is dealt to you as damage. Farewell Supreme King."

"Trap card activated" Jaden said activating his trap. "Go Negate Attack; now your attack is not only halted, but ended completely."

Nightshroud merely chuckled "You are only delaying the inevitable, but you can't delay forever. The girl won't last much longer." Jaden looked over to Alexis to see her panting in pain with her eyes closed and sweat pouring from her body. "Darkness resets my trap cards and my turn ends" Nightshroud said as his trap cards reset themselves.

Jaden drew a card, not speaking because he wanted to get it done "I plat Pot of Greed." Jaden drew his two cards "I now activate the special ability of Elemental HERO Captain Gold. By discarding Captain Gold to the graveyard I can add one Skyscraper card to my hand." Discarding the card Jaden plucked Skyscraper from his deck.

Nightshroud was now angry "You wouldn't…"

"Watch me" Jaden glared. "I now activate Skyscraper." Slamming the card into the slot Jaden watched as Darkness vanished and skyscrapers appeared. "Darkness is now gone and without it you can't control your trap cards anymore."

"You brat" Nightshroud glared.

"And since your turn ended Darkness Destroyer's attack points go back to their original 2300" Jaden said. "And now it's time for me to make my move; I activate my facedown card Emblem of the Cyber." The card revealed itself and it was a card that showed a picture of advanced cybernetic gear. "This card allows me to take one monster with word 'Cyber' in its name and add it to my hand from my deck. So I'm bringing Cyber Raider from my deck to my hand."

"But I'm not done yet" Jaden continued ruthlessly. "I now summon to the field Elemental HERO Neos Alius." On the field appeared a child version of the original Elemental HERO Neos (1900/1300). "While on the field Elemental HERO Neos Alius is treated as if it were the original Neos, which will allow me to do this. I activate Polymerization to fuse together Neos Alius and Cyber Raider in order to summon out my Cyber Neos."

The two monsters fused together and out of it came a mechanized Neos wearing mechanized armor with a mechanized body, all of it a dark lime green in color while also wielding cybernetic fists (2900/2500).

Nightshroud grunted "That monster may be powerful, but it won't be enough to stop me."

"Well let's find out" Jaden said coldly. "I activate the spell card Immunity." The spell card showed a monster standing tall with a shield of energy surrounding it. "The monster equipped with Immunity is immune to the effects of spell and trap cards for one turn and in exchange I can't attack with the monster this card was equipped with next turn, but that doesn't matter especially after I activate the spell card Cosmic Burst-Waves." This spell card depicted cosmic waves in space all gathering into a single powerful ball and exploding outwards. "With this card I just give up 1000 life points and in exchange Cyber Neos can attack all monsters on the field."

Nightshroud: 4000

Jaden: 3000

"No" Nightshroud shouted.

"Yes" Jaden hissed. "Cyber Neos attack with Cosmo Stridence." Cyber Neos slammed its fists together in midair and many large waves of energy launched from its fists and sliced completely through Darkness Eye and Darkness Destroyer completely destroying them making Nightshroud scream in frustration.

Jaden: 3000

Nightshroud: 500

"And with that I'll end my turn" Jaden said. Looking over to Alexis Jaden thought 'Just hold on a little longer, it's almost over.'

Nightshroud glared at Jaden growling angrily "You little brat; how dare you do this to me. I have waited far too long to get this opportunity and I will not be stopped."

"You will be" Jaden said still glaring. "I'll make sure of it."

"Not after this" Nightshroud smirked. "I draw and I activate monster reborn to bring back Darkness Destroyer, but Darkness Destroyer will not remain here for long."

"And why is that" Jaden demanded.

"Because I now sacrifice Darkness Destroyer and the Darkness Bramble in my hand in order to summon Darkness Neosphere" Nightshroud summoned his most powerful monster. It was hideous to say the least with long pink colored hair, a mutilated body filled with darkness and eyeballs with a blank face (4000/4000).

Jaden widened his eyes "Neosphere… I remember." Jaden remembered a much more youthful looking Neosphere from the Supreme King's memories and how he was Nightshroud's… best… friend.

Jaden's eyes exploded in absolute fury as his dark aura flared so brightly the ground shook "You twisted your own friend to your bidding."

Nightshroud smirked at Jaden's anger "Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. After all you know all about that don't you." Jaden didn't think he could get any angrier, but being forced to remember what he did in the Alternate Dimension because of his obsession pushed his anger overboard. Nightshroud was delighted "Darkness Neosphere attack his Cyber Neos."

Darkness Neosphere turned around revealing an eye in the back of its head, which launched a massive beam of darkness that enveloped Cyber Neos.

Jaden: 1900

Nightshroud: 500

Nightshroud chuckled "And thanks to Darkness Neosphere's special ability, if it at the end of my turn my life points are less than 4000 then they automatically go back to 4000."

Nightshroud: 4000

Jaden: 1900

"You have lost Supreme King; no card in your deck can stand up to the power of Darkness Neosphere" Nightshroud boasted.

Jaden said nothing except draw a card "Elemental HERO Clayman, defense mode" was all he said summoning the earth style HERO.

Nightshroud laughed as he drew a card "That's it; how pathetic. I may have lost Darkness, but with Darkness Neosphere I can still use the trap cards. I activate Zero and Infinity." Both trap cards revealed themselves with Darkness 3 in the middle. "Darkness 3; you now take 1000 points of damage." Jaden was struck by the attack, but didn't even flinch.

Nightshroud: 4000

Jaden: 900

"Now I equip Darkness Neosphere with Darkness Force" Nightshroud said showing a card that had dark light waves swirling across it. "With this card every monster Darkness Neosphere destroys you take damage equal to that monster's attack points. Darkness Neosphere attack."

Darkness Neosphere completely blew away Clayman in a mighty explosion.

Nightshroud: 4000

Jaden: 100

"You have only 100 life points left; it is almost over Supreme King" Nightshroud boasted. "Soon you will join your beloved queen in the afterlife for all of eternity.

Jaden looked at his hand; he only had one card left, Neo Space, and it wouldn't help him at all right now. He needed the right card or it would all be over; his friends, the world… Alexis. All would be lost from him.

'Please, let it be one that will let me win… PLEASE' he thought drawing the card. Looking at the card Jaden slowly got a smirk on his face.

Nightshroud saw the look "What are you smirking about" he glared.

"This" Jaden responded. "First I play Neo Space." The skyscrapers vanished and the bright colored world of Neo Space replaced it. "Next I'm going to summon an old friend of yours." Nightshroud's eyes narrowed "I summon Trueman."

Nightshroud's eyes widened as his once faithful spy and servant appeared on the field on Jaden's side (1900/1000). "Trueman, what are you doing?" Trueman was silent "Trueman, answer me."

"He can't" Jaden smirked. "When you sent Trueman after me the first time and I defeated him I used my powers to seal him into a card. Now he is mine to use as I see fit." Seeing Nightshroud's fury made Jaden smirk maliciously "Now I'm going to activate Trueman's special ability; an ability that allows me to take a single card from either my opponent's deck or my own. Luckily for you I chose my own; in exchange Trueman can't attack this turn."

Jaden searched through his deck before pulling out a card and reshuffling his deck. "The card I've chosen is Card of Sanctity" Jaden said showing the card. "Now both of us draw until we have six cards." Jaden drew a full six cards while Nightshroud only drew two. When Jaden saw his hand he smirked "I'm afraid it is now the end for you Nightshroud."

"Never; you will never stop me" Nightshroud screamed.

"Yes I will and your downfall starts with this card" Jaden screamed in return. "I activate Fusion Recovery. With it I get Polymerization and Cyber Raider back. Now I'm going to use Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Neos and Dark Entity." Both Neos and a Dark Entity, a figure shrouded in a dark cloak and dark armor with only his lower face visible (1800/1500), jumped into the air and fused together. "Together they create Neos Entity." On the field appeared a Neos monster shrouded in a dark cloak and dark armor with a pointy hood and only Neos' lower face visible (2100/500).

"That's it; that's your ace in the whole, pathetic" Nightshroud responded.

"Oh no; I'm not done yet" Jaden quipped back. "Next I activate the spell card Heavy Storm."

"NO" Nightshroud screamed as all of his facedown cards were destroyed. "Curse you Jaden Yuki, you and your heroes."

"It's what we do" Jaden said maliciously. "But I'm not done yet. Next I place once card facedown; Neos Entity attack Darkness Neosphere."

"You are a fool; Neosphere destroy him" Nightshroud shouted. Both monsters jumped at each other and attacked and Neos Entity was destroyed. "YES, I WIN."

"Wrong" Jaden shouted in return. "I don't take any damage in battles involving Neos Entity; however when Neos Entity is destroyed it allows me to call upon an even more powerful Neos Monster." Reaching into his deck Jaden pulled out a new card "Say hello to the one and only Mirage Neos."

The new monster that appeared on the field was indeed a new Neos monster, but this one had massive silver armor and a large silver broadsword with a matching silver cape going down its back. (2800/2300).

"Now Mirage Neos, attack Darkness Neosphere and end this duel" Jaden shouted.

"You fool; like the last one it's too weak" Nightshroud shouted as both monsters jumped at one another.

"No Nightshroud; it is you who is the fool" Jaden rebuffed. "During the battle Mirage Neos' special ability activates; he gains attack strength equal the monster he's attacking so in other words he's stronger than Neosphere."

Mirage Knight's attack increased exponentially (2800+4000=6800/2300). "It still doesn't matter because when this attack is over that monster will vanish leaving you defenseless."

Jaden smirked "Normally yes, but did you forget the card I placed facedown." By the look on Nightshroud's face he had forgotten. "Well now I reveal it; the trap card Neos Spiral Force. With this I can take a monster on my field and double its attack points."

Mirage Neos got even stronger (6800+6800=13,600/2300). "No" Nightshroud shouted as the attack connected and Darkness Neosphere was obliterated in a mighty explosion of power. "NOOOOO" Nightshroud screamed as he felt the power he stole be ripped from him.

Jaden: 100

Nightshroud: 0

The due over Jaden confronted the last bit of Nightshroud "You may have won today, but I will always exist" Nightshroud coughed. "As long as humans have darkness in their hearts then I will always exist."

"That may be true, but you will not rise again" Jaden said pulling out a blank card making Nightshroud go wide eyed. "Because the Supreme King and his descendants will always be there to keep you in check." Nightshroud screamed as his soul was placed inside the card Jaden held.

The darkness around the world vanished revealing light and slowly everyone was coming back. Jaden didn't care though and ran over to Alexis; feeling his power quadruple in strength and potency Jaden attempted to heal Alexis.

"Supreme King" a voice said making him gasp and turn around only to stare wide eyed. It was the Queen he saw in the vision. Her appearance to Alexis was indeed uncanny; they could pass for twins. She was smiling at Jaden "The conflict of the darkness is over and it is at peace thanks to you. I thank you; now my spirit can finally be at peace with my king."

She flew into Alexis' body and Alexis briefly glowed with dark energy before it disappeared. Alexis then began to cough "Alexis, Alexis" Jaden said alarmed.

Her bright hazel eyes opened as she stared at Jaden "Jaden" she whispered.

Tears came to Jaden's eyes "Thank you, thank you" Jaden cried happily as he hugged Alexis tightly in his arms. He was never letting go of her ever.

TIMESKIP

Everyone had returned and the darkness was now forever gone; Nightshroud was defeated. Thanks to the queen of the Supreme King's past life Alexis was saved and was in no danger, but Ms. Fontaine, the school nurse, wanted her to rest there for the night.

Jaden refused to leave her side no matter how much Alexis insisted he was fine. "Really Jaden; I'm okay. You can get some rest; your probably need it" she said.

"I'm fine; you are what I care about right now" Jaden said softly holding her hand. "I almost lost you today."

Alexis never thought she would see Jaden so broken up "Jaden, I'm sorry." Jaden looked at her surprised "I'm sorry I'm always making you worry; I must be such a burden to you. I –" she was cut off when Jaden's lips placed themselves on hers. Alexis widened her eyes before relaxing into the kiss as Jaden pulled her into his arms.

Pulling back Jaden's head was tipped slightly "My life belongs to you Alexis. I will use it for you; let's stay together… until the end."

Her eyes watered "And I'll… I'll protect you as well… forever."

"Alexis" Jaden murmured softly looking up his brown eyes boring into her hazel eyes. "Tonight… I want to be with you." Her eyes widened even more as she blushed before smiling happily and nodding. That night Jaden snuck Alexis out of the infirmary and back to the Slifer Dorms. There is where Jaden cooked them both a magnificent meal. It surprised Alexis with how well Jaden could cook and she enjoyed it. Jaden really went all out; especially with the romantic dimmed lights and candle lights on a fold-out table.

When they finished the wonderful dinner Alexis stood up after finished her drink and turned the lights all the way off leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the room. Jaden watched her and went slightly wide eyed as Alexis took off her top and let her skirt pool at her feet leaving her in only a matching pair of blue lacy undergarments.

Jaden felt like he was staring upon a Goddess; Alexis blushed under his gaze "What are you waiting for; don't just stare" she said shyly. Jaden smiled at her and stood up before taking off his jacket and shirt. Taking her into his arms he kissed her passionately and she responded in kind happily.

For the next few hours the two of them became one and now together they lied in bed sweaty, but content. The two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.

Hours later when the sun was just peaking over the ocean did Jaden awaken from the best sleep he had in his life. Remembering last night he looked over to see Alexis still sound asleep in his arms. Getting out of bed without waking her Jaden put his pants on and looked out at the rising sun. Like before Nightshroud showed up; it was peaceful and relaxing.

Hearing a noise from behind him Jaden turned to see Alexis waking up "Hey" he said softly "Sleep well."

"Better than I have in my entire life" she responded with a dreamy smile. She sat up keeping the sheets hugged tightly to her naked body "Jaden; after the graduation ceremony could we perhaps take a break before heading out."

"A break" he inquired. "Why?"

"I'm… I'm scared" she admitted quietly. "I'm scared that if we head out right away something bad will happen again like it did before. Or maybe I'm just paranoid; I'm really tired of all the danger."

Jaden smiled "I know what you mean; I'm tired of the danger as well. There are times where I wish I could just forget about it." Looking back out at the rising sun Jaden got a sudden idea "There's a tiny spot of land just outside of Domino City, maybe five minutes away, near a lake with a pristine beach. It's been for sale for many years, but no one's wanted to buy it. I've saved enough money; we could buy it and build our own house there and then…"

"And then what" she asked.

"Then" he paused for a minute before turning to her with the most passion filled gaze she had ever seen "Let's get married."

Alexis' eyes widened to near impossible proportions before the most radiant smile Jaden had ever seen came to her face. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes began to water until she finally choked out "Yes." Jaden smiled and crawled into bed with her again and continued their events from last night. Thank God it was Sunday.

One week later and that was it; it was their graduation day. The underclassman were so kind to prepare everything for them. Blair was the representative of the First Years in charge of setting everything up, Hassleberry was the representative of the Second Years and in charge of giving the speeches and Alexis, being the representative of the graduates was in charge of coming up with a farewell speech to their year.

Crowler was surprisingly choked up about having to say goodbye to the third year students. He even surprised Jaden, and everyone else, when he had admitted to Jaden that he would miss him. His actual words were "You'll be remembered as one of my worst students… and also one of my favorites." Jaden felt really touched that Crowler admitted that in the end he did believe in Jaden.

Crowler couldn't even deliver the news on who did best on the exams and had to be escorted out by three professors. The one who did the best would get an exact copy of Yugi Muto's deck. Surprisingly three people scored the best; Alexis, Syrus and Chazz.

All three of them declined the opportunity to take the deck as they believed in their own decks. Then came the best part; the farewell speech from Alexis. She gave a beautiful speech that had a few people in tears; it was a nice farewell speech that had a lot of people hugging each other goodbyes.

When she finished the speech Chancellor Shepherd was about to start handing out the diploma's when "Excuse me" Jaden called getting all attention. "Yeah, excuse me."

"Yes Jaden" Chancellor Shepherd said amused.

"I'd like to say something real quick and I'd like the whole school to witness it" Jaden said with a grin on his face.

Chancellor Shepherd raised an eyebrow before chuckling "Very well; this'll be the last Jaden Yuki antic the academy will ever see." The students laughed, even Jaden as he ran up there and took the microphone from Chancellor Shepherd.

Clearing his throat Jaden faced the school "Well, it's been a rough ride everyone. Those who are graduating; we've all faced some crazy stuff in the last three years. Hopefully as we graduate we can avoid that crazy stuff, am I right?" He got a few cheers and agreements "But before we graduate and move onto our separate paths… I want to do something special for a certain someone."

Jaden took a breath, turning to Alexis, and put the microphone on the stand so he had both hands free. Everyone could still hear him as Jaden began to speak "Throughout our years at the Academy the one who stood by me through it all, besides my bro Syrus, was you Alexis. When I first met you Alexis you weren't like the other girls; you didn't obsess over boys or how good you looked. You focused on becoming the best duelist you could be. You also dreamed big; a future to where you would become a teacher. You are an amazing woman Alexis and I'm really happy I got to know you."

A few more people got tears in their eyes from Jaden's heartfelt speech, but Jaden wasn't done yet. "Even though you already gave me an answer; I wanted to do this right. So for the last week I put in a little extra time working with Dorothy in the Card Shack so I could do this; I'm about to ask you a very important question."

Breathing in again Jaden got down on one knee and some people immediately began to cheer knowing what was about to come. Alexis covered her mouth in shock with her eyes beginning to water. Reaching into the back of his pockets Jaden pulled out a small black box "You are the most amazing girl I've ever met and since we've been together I just can't picture my life without you. Alexis Rhodes, will you marry me?" Opening the box he revealed a shining silver ring with a small diamond on it.

The cheers came again with people shouting "Say yes, Say yes, Say yes."

The tears fell down her face like a waterfall from pure happiness and for the life of her Alexis could not stop them. "Yes" she finally responded. Jaden just barely stood back up when she tackled him and kissed him. The entire room erupted in cheers so loud no one could hear themselves think.

Among them all the loudest claps were from Syrus, Jesse and Atticus. Syrus was so happy for his best friend; he was happy that Jaden finally found someone. Jesse cheered for reasons like Syrus happy that Jaden found that special someone. Atticus was literally crying he was so happy that his baby sister finally got her man. He always knew it would be Jaden; he just didn't know when it would happen. He couldn't wait to tell his parents; they'd flip.

Jaden and Alexis weren't paying attention to any of them; just each other. Holding each other as they gazed into each other's eyes; everything was perfect now. Their brand new life would now begin.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	5. Chapter 5

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Five)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Their time was done, the day had passed and now it was time for them to return home to start their new adventures. "I was thinking we could inform both of our parents before we set out" Alexis told him on the boat ride back to Domino City.

"Sure" Jaden smiled. "My house isn't that far from the pier; that's probably why I was almost late to the Entrance Exams. I had to run half way across town."

Alexis giggled "My house is actually near the Kaiba Dome so I remember getting there rather early." Both of them laughed slightly "I assume Atticus has already called pretty much my entire family so odds are my parents will be there waiting for us."

"Well if that's true then I can't wait to meet them" Jaden said with a smile.

"My mom is just like Atticus; she's really lovey-dovey and likes to meddle and interfere so be prepared for that" Alexis warned him.

"What about your dad" Jaden asked.

"He's more serious, but he's generally very kind and patient" Alexis said. "I should warn you; I was a daddy's girl when I was little and my dad still sees me as such so you might be getting the evil eye for a bit."

Jaden shuddered "Thanks for the warning" he said nervously. Alexis giggled a bit at her fiancé's nervous look. Jaden had never been nervous about anything, but apparently he was. Jaden was now both excited and nervous.

SCENE CHANGE

Meanwhile in Domino City's Kaiba-Corp main Headquarters Seto Kaiba was hard at work managing his company. Despite ten years passing since Pharaoh Atem split with Yugi Kaiba didn't look like he aged a day. He still looked the same as he did ten years ago except he had grown a little taller and his voice deepened.

Kaiba had spent the last ten years managing his company and creating many different duel monster's concepts and even some cards. Kaiba kept up his dueling skills by either dueling Yugi or Joey for fun, but still kept up their old rivalry. Needless to say Kaiba had mellowed out quite a bit in the last ten years.

In some ways Kaiba almost missed the crazy adventures that he had gone through with Yugi and the others. Everything had been a little dull and boring lately, but that doesn't mean everything had stayed the same.

Kaiba had attended four weddings in the past ten years; the first one was, shockingly, to Joey Wheeler's wedding to Mai Valentine. According to Yugi it surprised them all when Joey told them and Kaiba could see why. Joey the underdog and Mai the pre-Madonna, but they had been happily together for almost nine years now.

The next one was Joey's little sister Serenity getting married to Joey and Yugi's friend Tristan. Kaiba didn't know why he was invited to that one, but he attended nonetheless and smirked every time he remembered Joey's face when he saw the bride and groom kiss. It was combination of happiness and anger; he looked like he wanted to throttle Tristan, but was held back by Mai and Yugi.

The third one had him, and everyone else, saying "Finally." As it was Yugi and Tea that finally married. Tea had harbored feelings for Yugi for a long time, as did Yugi for Tea, but both were too cowardly to admit it to each other until finally they both did it. They had been together for six years now and everything was perfect.

The last one shocked Kaiba as it was his own little brother Mokuba that got married. Apparently Mokuba had been secretly going out with Rebecca Hawkins, granddaughter of the famous archeologist Arthur Hawkins. It shocked everyone when they revealed that they were engaged, but nevertheless Kaiba was happy for his brother and gave him the best wedding he could.

Kaiba was interrupted from his inner musings when his door was open "Pardon the interruption sir" the man said.

"What is it" Kaiba said in his usual stern, cold voice.

"A message from the CEO of Wicked Games Corp. was just delivered" the man said. "The message says the CEO wishes to meet with you at the new Duel Museum downtown."

Kaiba frowned slightly; Wicked Games was a new company that had just started up two years ago and already it was becoming a rival company. If the CEO wanted to meet with him than perhaps it might be a good business opportunity "Very well" Kaiba said standing up.

"I will get the limo prepared sir" the man told him.

"Don't bother; I'll walk today" Kaiba said walking out of the room. Every now and then, when the opportunity presented itself, Kaiba liked to get out of his office and take a walk around the city. As he exited the building Kaiba saw the sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot and by the slight pain he felt in his eyes he knew he needed to get out more.

As Kaiba walked down the streets he turned a corner and felt someone bump into him "Oh I'm terribly sorry" a soft voice said.

Kaiba looked down and nearly gasped; the person who ran into him was a woman with long periwinkle blue hair that almost looked white with deep ocean blue eyes and pale white skin. She wore slightly ragged clothes and her skin looked a little dirty, but it did nothing to hide her amazing beauty.

"Kisara" Kaiba breathed in shock.

The woman looked surprised "How do you know my name; have we met before?"

Kaiba blinked a bit "No, sorry; you just look… very familiar."

She smiled with a tiny blush "I don't get that very often. Anyway sorry about bumping into you, but I must be going." She walked past him and disappeared into the crowd; Kaiba didn't stop staring until she vanished. For some reason he now felt very happy that he left his office today.

Either way he continued his way to the Duel Museum; it was a relatively new museum that was built by Pegasus and its content held early designs, scriptures, pictures and even some cards of the most famous duelers in history. It also housed a few one of a kind cards that were rarely displayed to the public due to so many theft attempts.

When Kaiba got to the museum he saw it was deserted, which surprised him since it was a typical Friday meaning it should be open. "Welcome Seto Kaiba" a voice said. Kaiba turned around and saw a man with spiky, dark back hair, a very sharp angular face with very dark forest green eyes wearing a business suit. All in all everything about him screamed 'darkness.' "My name is Makko Shido, CEO of Wicked Games Corporation."

"A pleasure I'm sure" Kaiba said plainly. "Your message says you wish to talk."

"I do; please follow me inside" Makko said walking into the museum. Like Kaiba suspected it was barren.

"Why is the museum empty" he asked Makko.

"I wanted to conduct business in private; duel monster's fans are not known for subtlety" Makko said simply. Kaiba smirked a bit; no truer words were ever said. "Tell me Kaiba, after everything you've been through do you believe that there is a cosmic power that created all life."

"Cosmic power" Kaiba said with narrowed eyes "What are you talking about?"

"Long ago, before life and duel monsters even existed, two cosmic powers roamed around the universe" Makko began to explain. "The Light of Destruction and The Gentle Darkness; both were eternally locked in combat until the Darkness banished the Light and created all life as you know it."

"If all you wanted to talk to me about is cosmic fairytales then I'm leaving" Kaiba said coldly.

"I assure you it is not fairytales" Makko said simply. "Just follow me and you will understand." To Kaiba, this was fairly familiar as he remembered what happened when he met at a museum with Ishizu ten years ago.

Following Makko down a couple flights of stairs they ended up in a basement where Makko flipped on some lights and saw some ancient stone carvings and a few statues. "The Egyptians were the ones who wrote down the earliest forms of Duel Monsters by summoning their spirits to do battle, but could not control them and Pharaoh Atem locked them in stone tablets. Sorcerer's of that time learned to control them, but still could not completely do it. Pharaoh Atem was the closest one who could control the spirits, but his power pales compared to the two entities."

"Entities" Kaiba inquired with a frown.

"As I told you; The Gentle Darkness created all life by banishing the Light, but chaos and light waves would return to destroy all life" Makko continued. "The Darkness knew this so it bestowed all of its power onto one single person; that person would forever be known as the Supreme King."

Makko indicated to a statue depicting a person with spiked armor and spiked hair in the back with a long cape "That's the king" Kaiba asked.

"Yes; and there is proof of his existence" Makko said indicating to a scripture of writing near the statue. "The earliest forms of human settlement were the Mesopotamians and the Sumerians. These scriptures indicate the epic of Sumerian's most powerful King; Gilgamesh. In reality it was not the King's real name, but it was the name the people had given him because of his powerful abilities. The King used his strength and magic to construct the entire city of Uruk and the three walls that surrounded and protected the city."

"What's your point" Kaiba asked.

"This piece of structure right here" Makko said indicating to a piece of stone wall. "This structure is over 7000 years old and it is in pristine condition. No structure that old could still be in such good condition unless magically created; it is a prime reason why the Ancient Pyramids are still standing."

"That's all very fascinating, but you have yet to explain what this all leads up to and why you know this" Kaiba asked getting very impatient.

"Very well then" Makko said closing his eyes briefly. "A prime reason the Supreme King was unstoppable was because he had brought the God's of Darkness under his control and was the only one who could control them."

Makko led Kaiba to another ancient slab that depicted the Supreme King and three beasts surrounding him. "This is the Supreme King with the God's of Darkness, otherwise known as the Wicked Gods. They are named as such; The Wicked Dreadroot, The Wicked Eraser and The Wicked Avatar. These God's were known as 'Destruction Incarnate' with their powers rivaling, perhaps even surpassing, the Egyptian God Cards."

"Surpassing them" Kaiba said with shock. "And did Pegasus create these cards?"

"Yes" Makko nodded. "When Pegasus did create them he was so fearful of them that he almost stopped production completely. However he did finish them as he needed rivals for the Egyptian God Cards, but had them locked away much similarly. That's where I come in."

"You" Kaiba said eyes narrowed.

"My family has existed as Guardians to the Supreme King's will" Makko said. "Recently the Supreme King has awakened in his true vessel and the Light of Destruction is returning and taking its own vessel. The Light of Destruction is seeking these cards in order to vanquish the Supreme King and destroy its only rival. The battle that took place eons ago will soon take place once more."

'Cards stronger than the Egyptian God cards, another ancient power trying to destroy the world' Kaiba thought frowning before giving a tiny smirk. 'And I was getting bored too.' "Makko, what happened to these cards?"

"When they were created we informed Pegasus of everything I just told you" Makko told him. "In return Pegasus entrusted the three Wicked God's to us for in time the Supreme King would awaken again and be ready to do battle with the Transcendent Emperor. He would need the power of the Three Wicked Gods."

"I sense a 'but' coming" Kaiba said.

Makko sighed quietly "You are right; unfortunately one of our clan turned traitor and stole both The Wicked Avatar and The Wicked Dreadroot, but thankfully we managed to save The Wicked Eraser. That leads me to the reason I have come to speak to you."

"Oh" Kaiba mused. "And what is that reason?"

"Like you did ten years ago I would like to organize a battle city tournament only this time on a much larger scale" Makko said seriously. "The 'Ultimate Tournament.' A tournament so grand and so mighty that duelists from everywhere will come."

Kaiba chuckled "Just like ten years ago; like Ishizu Ishtar did you plan on luring the thieves into the city like a vulture is lured to a carcass."

"Precisely" Makko told him.

"Hmm, it sounds tempting, but first tell me; what did you do with the Wicked Eraser" Kaiba asked. "A card that rivals the Egyptian Gods; I could use a card like that."

"Even if I still had the card with me you would not be able to use it" Makko said bluntly.

Kaiba scowled "Are you calling me weak?"

"Far from it; you are a powerful duelist Kaiba, but the Wicked God's are different" Makko said. "The Wicked God's are beings of darkness so as such only those with the power of darkness can use them properly. Due to your connection with the ancient Egyptian past you may be able to use one of them, but that is a very small 'maybe.' Forget about being able to use all three; only the Supreme King is capable of that feat."

Kaiba grunted, but then smirked "So you say, but I make my own destiny; very well I will start this Ultimate Tournament, but before I do that I want to know something. If you don't have the Wicked Eraser with you… then where is it?"

Makko didn't reply at first before speaking "I have sent it to its one true wielder" was all Makko said. Kaiba nodded before leaving.

'New God's and a new opportunity' Kaiba thought with a smirk. 'Perhaps the title of 'Number One Duelist' is not forever out of my reach.'

SCENE CHANGE

Alexis was blushing in absolute mortification. Just as she had predicted Atticus had told her family everything and her parents were at the pier the moment the ship docked. The two of them barely had any time to say goodbye to their friends before being whisked away.

They practically made it to Alexis' house in five minutes flat; a ride which normally would've taken twenty minutes. Once there Jaden was properly introduced to Alexis' mother and father.

Jaden could definitely see where Alexis got her looks from; her mother was just like her in appearance with a heart shaped face, long dirty blond hair, a curvy body and the same hazel colored eyes. They were alike in appearance, but opposite in personality as her mother was just like Atticus in personality. She was very warm though and welcomed Jaden immediately.

Her father on the other hand was a bit like Alexis as he had a rather serious personality, but looked just like Atticus with shoulder length brown hair, a sharp face and dark brown eyes. He welcomed Jaden, but his rather serious eyes made Jaden nervous.

Now the reason why Alexis was blushing in mortification was because her mother was now grilling Jaden with nonstop questions. "How long have you been together" she asked excitedly.

"About two months" Jaden answered honestly. "But we've known each other ever since I joined the Academy."

"Sis won't admit it, but she fell in love with him not long after First Year began" Atticus said mischievously from beside his mother. Alexis was so red steam was pouring from her ears. Jaden wondered if that shade of red was healthy.

"That's enough Atticus; stop teasing your sister" her father, Dante Rhodes, finally said. Turning to Jaden he spoke "Jaden, right" he asked. Jaden nodded "You say you've officially been together with my daughter for two months yet you already ask her to marry you."

"Dante" Alexis' mother, Ashley Rhodes, interjected.

Dante held his hand up stopping his wife "I just feel that you are rushing into everything; it seems you are moving rather fast."

"I see what you mean sir" Jaden said being respectful. "It may seem fast, but honestly this is the one thing I've never felt more sure about. With everything me and Alexis have been through and shared together I just don't think I can imagine our lives apart from each other." He smiled at Alexis and the blushing blond smiled back at him.

Dante saw the looks Jaden and his daughter shared and was reminded of when he first met his own wife. Sighing a bit he smiled "Well I've raised my daughter right; she knows whatever decision she makes is the right one so if she wants this then as her father I can only support it. Welcome to the family son."

Jaden grinned brightly "Thank you sir."

"Thanks dad" Alexis smiled hugging her dad tightly. Atticus and Ashley were cheering happily in the background before Atticus pulled out his camera and got a picture of Jaden and Alexis together.

"Yeah… that one's going in the scrapbook" he said happily. Jaden couldn't help, but laugh when Alexis began chasing Atticus.

The laughter suddenly stopped when the T.V. flared to life revealing Seto Kaiba's face "Greetings citizens of Domino City" Kaiba said. "This is a message to all duelists currently in the city. You all know of my famous Battle City Tournament of ten years ago when Duelists from the farthest corners of the Earth all converged on this city to duel and be declared the best duelist of all time."

The smirk on Kaiba's face was completely battle-hungry "That tournament of ten years ago will now be child's play compared to what I am unleashing now. The Ultimate Tournament is upon us all; I am inviting Duelists from around the world to compete in the Ultimate Tournament. All you must do is register at your local Game Shop and collect your locater card." Kaiba held up a clear card with a few marks on it. "Like the last Battle City Tournament you need six of these Locator Cards to compete in the finals and also like the last tournament the Ante Rule will be in effect. You lose then you forfeit your best card. Of the thousands that show up only 16 Duelists will make it to the finals and the winner of the Ultimate Tournament will be crowned 'Duel Monster's Champion.'"

Kaiba's smirk widened, if possible "But that's not all; the duelist who wins the Ultimate Tournament Final Round will have a chance to be declared one of three titles; The Luck Duelist, The Demolisher Duelist or… The King of Games. Those titles come because the winner of the Ultimate Tournament will have a chance to duel against the Three Strongest Duelists in the entire world. Myself, Joey Wheeler and Yugi Muto. Defeat Joey Wheeler and earn the title of 'The Luck Duelist' and you get to face me. If by some miracle you can defeat me you will earn the title of 'The Demolisher Duelist' and if by some slim chance you can defeat the Egyptian God Cards and Yugi Muto then you will earn the title of 'King of Games.'"

"Registering starts tomorrow and ends two days afterwards; register and prepare because one week from today the Ultimate Tournament begins" Kaiba finished and the screen went dark.

When Kaiba's announcement was made everyone could see the excited look on both Jaden and Alexis' faces. "Excited are we" Atticus teased.

"Alexis" Jaden said turning to her.

"No need to ask; we register tomorrow" Alexis said with an excited grin.

"I love you" Jaden grinned at her.

TIMESKIP

"You sure you can't stay" Alexis asked him.

After Kaiba's announcement Jaden stayed with Alexis and her family and had dinner with them and shared many adventures about their time at Duel Academy, but left out the life threatening parts. Jaden and Alexis were both mortified when Atticus shared the story about Jaden's duel with Harrington and becoming Alexis' fiancé.

"I wish I could, but I need to head home" Jaden said softly. "Besides I got to tell my parents the news as well; they haven't seen me in a while."

Alexis nodded "Then have a nice night."

"You too" Jaden said before the two of them shared a goodnight kiss. It was more like a goodnight make-out as every time Jaden pulled back Alexis pulled him towards her to prolong the experience. Only ten minutes later did Atticus, Ashley and Dante see Alexis come back.

"So Alexis, is he the one" Dante asked her. His only response was a radiant smile and tears of joy.

SCENE CHANGE

It took Jaden about twenty minutes to get home just as it got dark; he looked at the house he had grown up in his whole life. Jaden softly knocked on the door and waited. About a minute later a woman of about 40 answered the door. She had a heart shaped face with minute wrinkles, long caramel colored hair with bright brown eyes.

The woman was wide eyed when she saw him "Jaden" she whispered.

Jaden smiled "Hey mom." Jaden was immediately embraced by his mother and Jaden responded just as tightly holding his mother.

After coming inside Jaden also shared a tight embrace with his father as well and for the next few hours all of them caught up about current events. "Oh yeah Jaden" his father said after a while. "This came for you in the mail today."

Jaden looked at the letter; there was no return address so he had no idea who sent it. Opening up the letter Jaden pulled out a letter and a duel monster's card. Looking at the card Jaden widened his eyes and his eyes glowed golden briefly.

"Jaden" his mother said concerned when he was silent.

Quickly Jaden said "Oh, it's just a letter from a friend I met at Duel Academy. I'll read it more tomorrow; right now I'm pretty tired so I think I'm gonna go to bed. Night guys" he waved before racing upstairs. Once upstairs Jaden immediately sat on his bed and looked at the card. It was unique because the background of the card was grey unlike the usual yellow or orange of regular monsters.

'The Wicked Eraser' he thought as he felt a massive power of darkness from this card. 'Yubel, what do I sense such a powerful darkness in this card?'

Yubel appeared "This is one of the God's of Darkness that the Supreme King controlled. I never thought I would see one of them again, at least so soon."

"God's of Darkness" Jaden murmured as his eyes turned golden.

"The Supreme King's armies were massive and since he was the embodiment of darkness only he could control the Wicked Gods" Yubel explained. "Only the Supreme King or anyone affiliated with the powers of the darkness in some way can use these monsters. If someone not affiliated with the darkness tries to use them then at best they'll be rendered catatonic."

Jaden shuddered 'Yikes.'

"Indeed" Yubel said. "Only the Supreme King has the power to control all three of these monsters. After you had settled a bit with that girl I was going to tell you of these monsters so you could both go and seek them out, but if someone mailed this to you then that means someone has stolen them."

"She is correct my King" a voice said. Jaden turned around eyes glowing and body glowing in dark energy. "Calm yourself my King" the person said in a relaxing tone. "My name is Makko Shido, a retainer of the Supreme King."

"Retainer" Jaden questioned.

Makko nodded "Yes, ever since the time of the First Supreme King my family was chosen to be a retainer of the Supreme King's will much like Yubel was chosen to be the Supreme King's guardian. My clan has existed for 7000 years waiting for your return my king."

Jaden stared at the man before looking at the card in his hand "Was it you who sent me this card?"

Makko nodded "I did and I stuck around to make sure you got it. In the hands of someone other than the Supreme King those cards can cause untold amounts of destruction and devastation. Even more than those Sacred Beasts you faced two years ago."

"And why did you give me the card" Jaden asked.

"Because you will need it my king" Makko said simply. "The Transcendent Emperor is upon us and a traitor of my clan has stolen the other two Wicked God's. You must enter Kaiba's tournament and you must win my king. The world will not survive should you fail."

"If what he says is true Jaden" Yubel entered the conversation. "Then it is your destiny to win."

Jaden was silent as he looked at the card again "I accepted my destiny the moment I learned to control this power. If what I was just told was true then there's no doubt about what I must do; I'll win this tournament and I'll stop the Transcendent Emperor and stop the Light of Destruction."

Makko and Yubel smiled "Good" he said.

NEXT MORNING

"Okay Kaiba what's the big deal with the announcement" Joey Wheeler demanded the next morning at Kaiba Corp. Like Yugi and Kaiba Joey had aged gracefully looking almost the same as he did ten years ago. The only difference was that he had slightly bigger muscles.

"Yes Kaiba, I too am curious" Yugi said.

"You'll understand after I say this" Kaiba said. "It's Marik all over again."

Both Joey and Yugi widened their eyes "You mean there's a traitorous person after a set of God cards bent on world domination."

"Pretty close; just substitute world domination with universal annihilation" Kaiba said blankly.

"You can't be serious" Joey said with a shocked look in his eyes.

"Unfortunately" Kaiba said sitting in his chair. "As much as I hate to admit it the proof was all presented to me."

"You're actually believing now" Joey teased.

Kaiba glared at him "After everything I've seen it's a little hard not to believe anymore, but the point is that we've now got two supernatural entities that are even stronger than the Pharaoh."

"More powerful than him" Yugi asked remembering Atem. He could hardly believe something existed that was stronger than him.

Kaiba nodded "If you count one of the forces created all life and the other threatens to destroy it all."

Both Joey and Yugi looked nervous "Kaiba; can you explain the whole thing. Everything you heard" Yugi asked. And so Kaiba did explain everything that Makko had told him. By the end both Yugi and Kaiba were very nervous.

"What can we do" Joey asked.

"Nothing" Yugi said surprising Joey. "It's not our destiny to stop this evil. It is the destiny of the one called the Supreme King. All we can do is put our faith in this person."

"You can do that all you want" Kaiba said. "However if things go wrong I'm not going to just stand around."

"That makes two of us" Joey said agreeing with Kaiba. Oh boy, that wasn't a good sign "No offense Yugi; I trust you and your skills; hell I trust Kaiba and his skills, but some unknown person. Sorry, but I'm having a hard time trusting that person; I agree with Kaiba and you know it's bad when both of us agree on something."

Yugi chuckled slightly "I don't blame you… but it's all we can do."

SCENE CHANGE (Jaden's House)

"KYA" a loud squeal echoed from the house. The squeal belonged to Jaden's mother as she had just met Alexis. Alexis had come over to greet Jaden and see if he was read to go when she was introduced to his parents and they told them about their relationship. "My Jaden is engaged" she said happily.

Jaden looked so embarrassed as his mother fussed over Alexis like a mother hen. Jaden's father on the other hand was grinning as he clapped his son on the shoulder "Good job son, she's a pretty one." That only added to Jaden's embarrassment.

Finally he called "Okay mom that's enough; Alexis and I have to go register for the Kaiba's Ultimate Tournament."

"Ah, my son and his fiancé going out to duel together, so sweet" his mother continued to gush happily. Jaden too that time to leave with Alexis leaving his parents behind to happily gossip about their son's relationship.

"Good God, now I know how you feel" Jaden said trying to rid his face of his blush.

Alexis giggled "They seem like really nice people. Your mother seems especially happy."

"She's been like that ever since she discovered her first grey hair when I was 14" Jaden said. "Ever since she's been pressuring me to find a girlfriend and give her grandchildren before she turns old, grey and brittle."

Alexis blushed and giggled slightly imaging children "I-I think we're a little too young for that."

Jaden also blushed "Y-Yeah same here; I wouldn't mind kid's sometime in the future. What about you?"

"I've always loved children; I definitely want to have some in the future" Alexis responded. Both smiled and shared a kiss before moving onto the local game shop. It was packed and it took them about an hour of standing in line until they got to the front.

"Let me guess you want to register" the man in behind the computer said in a tired voice. Apparently he had been doing this for a little too long without a break.

"Uh, yes please" Jaden said.

"Name" the man said.

"Jaden Yuki" Jaden responded. The man typed Jaden into the computer and was surprised; it showed Jaden as a 5-star duelist with his rarest card being Elemental HERO Neos.

"Five-star duelist; that's the highest rank a duelist can achieve" the man said. "First one I've seen all day; congratulations. You qualify for the Ultimate Tournament. Here's your locator card."

"Thanks" Jaden said taking the card. He stepped aside so Alexis could step up.

"Name please" the man said.

"Alexis Rhodes" she said. The man typed in her name and got her information. She was a four-star duelist with her rarest card being Cyber Angel – Dakini.

"Four-star duelist; you qualify" the man told her. "Here's your locator card."

"Thank you" Alexis said gratefully before she left the store with Jaden. Now the two of them were out in Domino City with the Ultimate Tournament only a few days away from starting. Everything was beginning.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Six)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

A few days after acquiring their first locator card the Ultimate Tournament here in Domino City had officially begun. Everywhere Jaden looked he saw duelists battling left and right. Turning to his one and only Jaden said "I guess this is where we part."

"Yeah" Alexis murmured.

"I'll see you in the finals… my love" he said tenderly to her.

Alexis smiled and cupped his face with both hands before giving him a kiss. Jaden practically melted into the kiss; he never thought being with someone would feel so wonderful. "I'll see you there my love" she responded in return before she turned and left, but not before giving him one last wink.

Jaden watched her go for a bit before sighing "Alright… time it duel." Looking around he sighed "But which one… oh well, follow the wind." Feeling the wind with his finger Jaden took off.

MEANWHILE

Unlike her hyperactive fiancé Alexis just walked on calmly looking for a duel; she saw many people dueling left and right with so many people cheering on. The city was so packed there was almost no place to walk; Alexis felt really sorry for those who had to go to work.

After turning a corner Alexis saw a duel that seemed to be winding down "Cyber Angel – Ebisu attack him directly" a female voice shouted. Alexis saw a monster fly in and strike a duelist hard in the chest sending him flying back and depleting his life points.

The one who dealt the final blow was a beautiful woman of about twenty-two with long black hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a revealing tube-top, tight daisy dukes and black boots. Despite her beauty she had an arrogant smirk on her face.

"I won little boy so hand it over" she said cruelly.

The one she defeated; a boy of about thirteen shakingly reached into his deck and extracted a card. Alexis recognized the card; it was one of the Cyber Angel Cards. "H-Here" he stammered.

She swiped the card from him and the locator card "Thanks for the card pipsqueak; it'll do much better in my deck."

Alexis frowned at her attitude and stepped up "Hey" she called to the woman. "You may have won, but it gives you no right to disrespect your opponent like that."

"Whatever drama queen" the woman said dismissively. "He had a Cyber Angel card and I wanted it so I got it. He didn't even have the skill to use it."

"So you're a Cyber user" Alexis inquired.

"Damn straight; the Cyber Angels are my favorite type" the woman said. "I've spent years collecting them all and now I've got all seven of them. My Cyber Angel Deck is unbeatable."

"Oh you think so" Alexis said with a smirk. She reached into her pocket and extracted her deck. Then she pulled out three card "I'm pretty sure you're missing three cards that go with the Cyber Angels."

"You're lying" the woman hissed at her.

"Take a look" Alexis said revealing three cards. The woman couldn't help, but gape openly. For in Alexis' hand were the mightiest of the Cyber Angel set. They were the rulers of the Cyber Angels.

Cyber God – Tsukuyomi

Cyber God– Amaterasu

Cyber God – Susano

"The Cyber God's" the woman breathed. Quickly she activated her duel disk "My name is Tonya and I hereby challenge you to a duel with the loser forking over their three rarest cards."

"Oh really now" Alexis said with a smirk coming to her face. "You know the only way to use the Cyber God's is to have all seven Cyber Angels. I've got a better offer; you win then you get the Cyber God's, my Locator Card and I'll throw in my White Knight Dragon."

Tonya looked very greedy "You got a deal; you win and you can take my locator card and four of my Cyber Angels." Alexis nodded and activated her own duel disk. "LET'S DUEL" they both shouted.

Alexis: 4000

Tonya: 4000

"I think I'll start" Alexis said drawing a card. Looking at her hand she smirked a bit "I summon my Etoile Cyber in attack mode." On the field came one of Alexis' favorite Cyber monsters (1200/1600). "After that I place one card facedown. You're move."

"Why thank you" Tonya smirked before drawing a card. Smirking broadly she said "I activate the spell card Advanced Ritual Art."

"Oh no" Alexis gasped.

"Oh yes" Tonya grinned. "With this card I can ritual summon one monster to the field and my choice is Cyber Angel – Idaten." On the field in a flash of light appeared a monster with light purple skin in a black skimpy outfit with a magenta headdress on her head (1600/2000). Seeing Alexis' look Tonya grinned "And to make everything better when Idaten is summoned to the field I get to take one spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I only have one so you can guess what it is."

Alexis scowled "Yeah I'm pretty sure."

"Yep; Advanced Ritual Art" Tonya said. "And I think I'll activate it again." Alexis gasped "But this time I'm going to summon out Cyber Angel – Hotei." On the field a similar looking Cyber Angel appeared only with light skin, a blue headdress and wielding double swords (1500/2000). "And thanks to Cyber Angel – Hotei's effect she gets to attack twice this turn."

"Twice" Alexis said shocked.

"That's right; so now to deal with that Etoile Cyber" Tony smirked. "Cyber Angel – Idaten attack her Etoile Cyber with Cyber Spear."

"I don't think so; I activate the trap Doble Passe" Alexis said activating her trap card. Idaten's attack then struck her dead on making her give a small cry.

Tonya: 4000

Alexis: 2400

"What, why would you take a head on attack" Tonya demanded.

"Because of Doble Passe's effect" Alexis smirked. "My monster in return gets to attack you directly. Go Etoile Cyber." Etoile Cyber ran towards Tonya "And to make it worse; when she attacks directly her attack points increase by 600 (1200+600=1800/1600)."

"AH" Tonya shrieked as Etoile Cyber hit her dead on.

Alexis: 2400

Tonya: 2200

'She took damage just to get to me; damn, this girl is good' Tonya thought. "Nice shot, but you still can't do anything. Hotei attack her Etoile Cyber now; Cyber Slash attack." Hotei charged forward and slashed Etoile Cyber away.

Tonya: 2200

Alexis: 2100

"And don't forget Hotei gets to attack twice" Tonya smirked and Alexis was struck again nearly knocking her to the ground.

Tonya: 2200

Alexis: 600

"The torture isn't over yet; I play the spell card Cyber Meltdown; for each monster on my field with Cyber in its name you take 100 points of damage" Tonya said maliciously. Alexis gave a small shout as she lost more life points.

Tonya: 2200

Alexis: 400

"Make your move girlie; if you can" Tonya taunted her.

"I'll do more than that; my move" Alexis said drawing a card. 'The thing is can I? Her Cyber Angels are extremely powerful. It's only been one turn and she's almost completely wiped me out.' Looking at her hand Alexis picked one card "I activate Pot of Greed; now I get to draw two more cards from my deck." Drawing her two cards Alexis went a little wide eyed. 'This will come in handy.'

"What are you smirking about" Tonya called. "You lost your mind; realizing you can't beat me."

"Far from it; I've just found a way to turn the tables" she responded. "I summon Gagagigo" she said summoning out a bipedal armor wearing lizard monster (1850/1000).

"You plan on turning the tables with that thing" Tonya taunted. "I admit it's stronger than both my Cyber Angel's, but it won't matter."

"You misunderstand" Alexis said making Tonya frown. "This one is going to help me bring out a stronger one; I now activate the spell card Big Wave Small Wave. What this spell card does is it allows me to destroy all WATER attribute monsters on my field and in exchange I can summon a new one for the ones that were destroyed."

"A monster for a monster I take it" Tonya inquired.

"Oh yeah; so I sacrifice Gagagigo in order to summon White Knight Dragon" Alexis said. It suddenly got extremely cold as a massive dragon made of pure ice appeared on the field with a mighty roar (3000/2500).

"Ugh, the White Knight Dragon" Tonya shivered from the cold.

"Oh yeah and this beauty's about to unleash a blizzard on you; White Knight Dragon attack her Cyber Angel – Hotei with blistering blizzard." White Knight Dragon launched a large ray of ice from its mouth that struck Cyber Angel – Hotei and froze her solid before she exploded. Tonya shivered violently from the backlash.

Tonya: 700

Alexis: 400

"I activate my facedown card Cyber Retribution" Tonya called activating a card that showed a computer screen with an evil face on it. "This card activated when a monster with 'Cyber' in its name is destroyed. The monster that destroyed it is destroyed as well."

"I don't think so thanks to my Snow White Dragon's Brittle Obstruction" Alexis said. Snow White Dragon launched a small beam of ice and it hit the trap card freezing it solid before it dissolved away.

"What, your dragon wasn't destroyed" Tonya gaped.

"Exactly; that's because my Snow White Dragon allows me to choose which spell or trap card effects can work on it" Alexis said with a smirk as Tonya scowled. "I guess now I'll end my turn."

"That dragon of yours is strong, but not invincible" Tonya grunted drawing a card. "I activate the second effect of Cyber Angel – Hotei. When she's sent to the graveyard I can take one Ritual Spell card from my deck and add it to my hand." Reaching into her deck Tonya withdrew her ritual card and reshuffled her deck. "And now I'm going to activate that card; Machine Angel Ritual. With it I now sacrifice Cyber Angel – Idaten and summon out Cyber Angel – Jurojin." This Cyber Angel had a massive silver headdress with a large spear in her hands ready for battle (1700/1400).

"So what's this one do" Alexis asked.

"I'm glad you asked" Tonya smirked. "When Jurojin is summoned to the field I can summon up to two monsters with 'Cyber' in their name as long as they're level 4 or below. So I summon Cyber-Stein (700/500) and Cyber Falcon (1400/1200) in defense mode." The two monster's appeared on her field making her total monster force three.

"Not bad, but it won't save you for long" Alexis said.

"So you say; I end my turn" Tonya said.

"My move then" Alexis said drawing a card. "First I place two cards facedown and now Snow White Dragon attack her Cyber Angel – Jurojin." Snow White Dragon launched its attack and it hit Cyber Angel – Jurojin and completely destroyed it. Tonya shivered from the massive cold "And with that I'll end my turn."

"Don't be cocky" Tonya grunted drawing a card before chuckling sinisterly. "I now sacrifice both Cyber Falcon and Cyber-Stein." Both monsters vanished off the field "And now I'm going to summon a new monster; say hello to my Cybernetic Magician." She summoned out a magician dressed in cybernetic magician armor (2400/2000).

"That's a cool magician, but against my Snow White Dragon it won't last" Alexis smirked.

"You think so wouldn't you, but what if I activate his special ability" Tonya smirked in return making Alexis lose hers. "You see Cybernetic Magician has the ability to weaken monsters; all I have to do is discard one card."

"He what" Alexis gasped.

"You heard me" Tonya said discarding a card. "I just discard this one card and your precious Snow White Dragon's attack points decrease to 2000 for one whole turn." Snow White Dragon seemed to slouch as it got weaker (3000-1000=2000/2500). "And guess what; you only have 400 life points left so once I attack then you're finished."

"Oh no" Alexis gasped.

"Cybernetic Magician, attack with cyber magic attack" Tonya shouted. Cybernetic Magician launched a massive blast of silver magic at Snow White Dragon and it connected. "I win" Tonya shouted victoriously, but when the smoke vanished Alexis was still standing. "What; how is this possible. That attack should've wiped you out."

"Normally it would've" Alexis conceded. "But before the attack hit I activated this card." Tonya looked at the card and scowled.

"Emergency Previsions" she sneered.

"That's right, by sacrificing my other facedown card I gained 1000 life points just before your attack hit" Alexis said.

Alexis: 400+1000=1400-400=1000

Tonya: 700

"Lucky move; you won't be so lucky next time" Tonya sneered at her. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"We'll see" Alexis said. "It's my move now." Drawing a card she looked at her hand and smiled "And now the duel is over." Tonya narrowed her eyes "I summon to the field Cyber Gymnast" she said summoning a muscular female warrior in a mask (800/1800).

"You must really be losing it; that's nowhere near enough power to defeat my Cybernetic Magician" Tonya told her.

"I realize that, which is why I'm activating her special ability" Alexis said. "An ability that lets me destroy one monster on your field."

"No way" Tonya said shocked.

"Yes, so I'm going to discard this card and your Cybernetic Magician is sent to the scrapyard" Alexis said. Cyber Gymnast shot forward and punched Cybernetic Magician and destroyed him. "And the best part is that I can still attack and Cyber Gymnast has just enough attack points to wipe you out. Attack."

"Not so fast" Tonya shouted as Cyber Gymnast charged. "I activate my facedown card; Draining Shield."

"Not that card" Alexis scowled; she was so close.

"Yes and with Draining Shield my Life points will absorb that attack instead of taking the damage" Tonya said smugly.

Tonya: 700+800=1500

Alexis: 1000

Seeing as Alexis had no cards left in her hand she had no choice, but to end her turn "My turn's over."

"Then it's my move" Tonya said drawing a card. She smirked maliciously "Now this duel is over."

"Not until the last life point hit's zero" Alexis said confidently.

"Well with this card your downfall will begin; I pay 1000 life points" Tonya began as her life points dropped.

Alexis: 1000

Tonya: 500

"Now I can activate the spell card Ritual Foregone" Tonya said. "With this spell card I can summon a Ritual Monster from my hand directly to the field. And the monster I choose to summon is Cyber Angel – Ebisu" she said as a warrior lady with a white headdress on her head wielding a spear in all four of her arms appeared on the field (2400/2000).

"Big deal; since you summoned it with Ritual Foregone it can't attack this turn" Alexis said trying to be confident.

"That's true, but I don't need Ebisu here to win" Tonya said in an eerily calm tone. "I just need to do this. I activate Cyber Angel – Ebisu's special ability. By sacrificing half of my life points I can tribute her and summon out the most powerful Cyber Angel."

"You what" Alexis gaped.

Alexis: 1000

Tonya: 250

Cyber Angel – Ebisu began to crack with black energy seeping from her body before she exploded and out of the black light appeared a six armed woman with a black headdress, red robe with each of her six arms wielding a spear (3000/3000).

"Say hello to the one and only Cyber Angel – Mahakala" Tonya smirked.

Alexis had wide eyes; this was it. With only Cyber Gymnast on the field with 800 attack points and her with only 1000 life points left she was going to lose.

"Calm down girl" Tonya said smugly. "When Mahakala is summoned with Ebisu's effect she can't attack this turn." Alexis felt a little better. "But she can activate her special ability." Alexis felt nervous again "Her ability is that once per turn she can destroy a monster on your side of the field and you suffer damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's defense."

Cyber Angel – Mahakala put her six spears together and launched a red blast at Alexis's monster, which was enveloped by the blast. Alexis nearly fell to the ground from the sheer force of the attack.

Tonya: 250

Alexis: 100

Tonya was smiling, not a smug one, but a truly genuine smile. "It's been a long time since I've been forced to summon Mahakala. You're a great duelist girl; what's your name."

Regaining her breath she responded "Alexis; Alexis Rhodes."

"Alexis Rhodes eh… I'll be sure to remember that" Tonya said. "Now make your last move so I can end this."

Alexis looked down at her deck; she had no cards in her hand and no cards on the field. She would need an absolute miracle to win this. She needed the right card that would help her; secretly she knew only one monster could still win this for her, but she needed to right card to draw it.

'Jaden… give me strength' she thought picturing her fiancé's confident face in her head. Drawing her card Alexis looked at it "Just what I needed."

"You're bluffing; no card can save you anymore" Tonya said confidently.

"Well let's find out" Alexis said. "I activate Card of Demise. As you should know it lets me draw five new cards from my deck, but if I don't use them in five turns I lose them in five turns."

"This duel won't last five more turns" Tonya said as Alexis drew her five cards.

Looking at her hands Alexis smirked "You're right; it won't last five turns, because I'm ending it now. And my victory starts with this card; Machine Angel Ritual." Tonya cursed knowing what might be coming "To activate the Machine Angel Ritual I'm must offer a few of my monsters so I offer my White Knight Queen and my Decoy Dragon." Both monsters briefly appeared on the field before vanishing "And in return I can now summon out Cyber Angel – Dakini." Alexis' most powerful Cyber Angel appeared on the field ready to fight (2700/2400).

"You think you can win with that card" Tonya shouted. "Dakini may be powerful, but Mahakala is still stronger than Dakini."

"And you call yourself a master of the Cyber Angels" Alexis taunted. "Don't you remember; when Dakini is summoned the opponent must select a monster on their field and destroy it. You only have one monster so you have no choice."

Tonya gaped as her most powerful monster screamed before exploding in a shower of fire. Tonya gaped in shock "Just like that… my most powerful monster; it's gone."

"Yes and your life points are about to follow" Alexis said. "Cyber Angel – Dakini attack her life points directly with Cyber Barrage attack." Dakini charged forward with a battle cry and slashed through Tonya sending her flying to the ground.

Alexis: 100

Tonya: 0

"And that's game" Alexis said with wink. "And what an awesome game it was."

Tonya sat up still in a state of shock; she could count five times where she had Alexis, but this girl kept coming up miraculous draws and skillful countering. This girl was truly the master of the Cyber. With that Tonya stood up and let out a small sigh "Yeah it was fun" she admitted. She walked up to Alexis "As per our agreement you can take my locator card and four of my Cyber Angels."

Alexis smiled "Thank you." Taking the Locator Card Alexis also took Cyber Angels Hotei, Ebisu, Jurojin and Mahakala. "This was a fun duel; let's duel again sometime."

"Yeah; next time I'll beat you though" Tonya said with an impish grin before walking off with a wave.

Alexis looked at the cards she had won; finally her Cyber deck was completed. She had been looking for the four other Cyber Angel's for a long time and she never thought she'd get the opportunity to have them all.

Now she could finally use the Cyber God's that were given to her by her grandfather.

As Alexis walked down the street looking for her next duel she thought "I wonder how Jaden's doing."

SCENE CHANGE

"Evil HERO Malicious Edge destroy his Luster Dragon" Jaden shouted. His Evil HERO charged forward and sliced right through the Luster Dragon that was in front of him.

Jaden: 3500

Opponent: 0

"That's game" Jaden said doing his usual pose. "Sweet match bro."

"Yeah for you" the guy muttered so Jaden wouldn't hear him. Standing up he pulled out his locator card and his rarest card being the Super Conductor Tyranno (3300/1400).

"I'll just take the Locator Card" Jaden said taking the locator card, but leaving the rare card surprising the boy. "It's a good card, but I don't think it would work anywhere in my deck. Good luck in the future kid."

With that Jaden walked off into the distance "Wow six locator cards already" Jaden said looking at the six locator cards he won in the last three hours. "Well I'm in the finals now… but what am I going to do for the next week?" Looking around Jaden spotted one of his favorite burger joints from when he was a kid. Feeling his stomach growl he grinned "Well that answers that."

As Jaden sat there eating happily his mind wandered back to what Makko and Yubel had told him. Reaching into his deck box Jaden extracted The Wicked Eraser and stared at the card feeling the dark energy radiating from it.

He hadn't used it at all since he got it; for one he didn't need to use it and two… he was honestly a little nervous about using it. He had never felt a single card this powerful before; its dark energy dwarfed all of his Evil HERO cards combined.

But Jaden knew that very soon in the future… he would need to use this card especially since he knew the other two Wicked God's would be appear soon.

'I never used to believe in destiny' Jaden mused quietly to himself leaning on his hand. 'But with everything that's happened I guess maybe there is a destiny for everyone out there. Never thought mine would be as big as saving the world though.'

Sighing a bit Jaden looked out into the distance waiting for his fated battle.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	7. Chapter 7

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Seven)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

"Cyber Blader, direct attack" Alexis shouted. Her Cyber Blader shot forward and slammed against her opponent sending him flying.

Alexis: 1800

Opponent: 0

"And that's game" Alexis said deactivating her duel disk.

The boy she defeated seemed distracted the whole time and kept staring at her. Getting up he just gave her his locator card and ran off. Alexis blinked; she didn't get a rare card, but just by seeing his deck she knew it probably wasn't anything special. She did wonder why he kept staring and blushing though.

A moment later she realized and blushed 'Little perv' she thought indignantly before stomping off. After a minute she calmed down when she realized a very important fact 'Alright I got six locator cards; I'm going to the finals. I wonder if Jaden has his locator cards yet.' After a minute of silent thinking she giggled 'Who am I kidding; he probably got them all on the first day.'

It had been five days since the start of the battle city tournament and everything was going around crazily as usual, but it was beginning to die away. Like Kaiba said only 16 of perhaps hundreds of thousands of duelists could advance to the finals. Alexis was lucky to have all six of them; she was a talented duelist, but she would easily admit that her most powerful opponent was Tonya.

She wondered who else had won their locator cards; deciding she'd find out in two days when the finals would begin Alexis decided to give Jaden a call. Pulling her phone out she dialed his number "Hello" she heard Jaden say.

"Hey Jaden" Alexis said.

"Alexis; haven't heard from you in a while. How are you doing" Jaden asked excitedly.

"Pretty good; I just won my sixth locator card" she told him.

"Aw sweet, we're both in the finals" Jaden said loudly and Alexis could picture the massive grin on his face.

"So you got six locator cards as well; let me guess you won them on the first day" Alexis asked not expecting him to answer.

"… Yes" he said quietly.

Alexis was silent for a few seconds before laughing the sweet melodic laugh that Jaden loved so much. "Oh Jaden, what am I going to do with you" she said good naturedly.

"How about meet me at Domino Plaza in ten minutes" Jaden said in response.

"It's a date; see you soon" she said sensually.

"Bye love" Jaden responded before hanging up.

SCENE CHANGE

Sure enough both of them made it to Domino Plaza in about ten minutes; Jaden was there slightly earlier than Alexis and had a cold drink waiting for her. "Lemonade, right" Jaden said holding the drink for her.

"You know me well" she smiled taking the drink. The two of them sat together leaning against one another for a moment enjoying the warm sun. Looking at Jaden Alexis could see he looked distracted again; like his mind was somewhere else. "What are you thinking about" she asked him.

"Hmm" he hummed.

"You've got that look on your face again; the one where you're thinking about something else" Alexis said. She took his hand "You can tell me anything Jaden; you know that."

Jaden was silent for a moment before he sighed a bit "Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve someone as amazing as you."

"Easy; you were just being yourself" she smiled at him.

After sharing a small kiss Jaden relented "The truth is… almost a week ago I was visited by someone. His name was Makko and according to him he was a guardian of the Supreme King's will."

"The Supreme King" Alexis gasped remembering Jaden's powers. "What was he doing there?"

"Apparently he was there to make sure I got his gift" Jaden said.

"Gift" she said confused. Jaden reached into his deck box and extracted the Wicked Eraser and showed it to Alexis. Alexis gasped when she saw the card "What is that" she asked amazed.

"It's known as The Wicked Eraser and one of the three Wicked God Cards" Jaden said getting Alexis to gasp again. "They're polar opposites of Yugi's Egyptian God Cards and the Supreme King brought these beasts under his command during his reign. When Pegasus created the game he also created these cards, but like the Egyptian God Cards he locked them away entrusting them to Makko's family until the Supreme King returned. But a traitor to their family, now serving under the vessel of the Light of Destruction, stole the other two God Cards and now it's my destiny to stop him, acquire the other two God Cards and beat the Light of Destruction."

Alexis was silent after hearing Jaden's story before sighing sadly and pulling him into her arms "When did dueling become so complicated" she murmured.

"I think it always was; we were just too ignorant to see it" Jaden murmured back. Pulling back Jaden held Alexis by her shoulders "But no matter what comes at me and no matter what happens we'll get through this and when we do… we'll have the wedding you've always wanted."

Alexis smiled at him and cupped his cheeks "As long as I'm with you… I'm happy" she said before kissing him softly. Jaden had more of a reason than ever to win; for his future with his one true love.

THREE DAYS LATER

Like the last Battle City tournament Kaiba made the location of the finals an absolute secret to where only those with six locator cards could find the location. This time, instead of at Kaiba stadium, the location of the Finals were at Domino Pear aboard Kaiba's luxury yacht, which was almost as big as a miniature ocean liner.

Kaiba, Yugi and Joey were already there as they had gotten the message from Kaiba to show up first to see the finalists. Of course the old gang had come along as well; Tea was there with her and Yugi's three year old daughter Allison. Mai had shown up with her and Joey's seven year old son Michael and Tristan was there with his and Serenity's son Thomas.

Of course to make it better some of them were actually finalists; Mai had decided to compete for the fun of it and won six locator cards so she was the first finalist to show up. The second finalist surprised Joey because it was his own sister Serenity. Having seen dueling for a long time Serenity decided to pick it up and was quite an expert at it; good enough to win six locator cards. So now the kids would get to watch their parents duel.

Unfortunately it wasn't just the old gang that was there; their old archrivals had shown up as well. Those rivals being Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor. None of them were too happy to see them, but they did qualify so they had to put up with them.

But that unpleasant feeling passed quickly when the next two finalists had come; those two finalists being their old friend Mako Tsunami along with Rebecca Kaiba, formerly Rebecca Hawkins. With them all here six of the sixteen finalists had shown up. Now they needed to wait for the other ten.

Soon after a limo pulled up "Oh great" both Joey and Kaiba muttered recognizing the logo on the side of the limo. Out of the limo appeared the one and only Maximillian Pegasus.

Yugi was much more polite "Pegasus; what brings you here" he asked.

"Well once I heard of Kaiba's Ultimate Tournament I had to come out and see it" Pegasus responded. "After all we may just see the crowning of a new King of Games."

Yugi laughed "That would be amazing."

"Yeah right" Kaiba sneered. "The only one who's going to defeat Yugi is me. I don't care if you come aboard to watch Pegasus, just stay out of my way."

"Ah I see you haven't changed at all Kaiba-boy, very well" he said enjoying Kaiba's scowling face. "So Yugi-boy how many have shown up."

"Well so far we have six of the sixteen finalists; we're still waiting on the final ten" Yugi responded. Footsteps made him look over "And it looks like two more are showing up."

The two that were approaching were men that were dressed in plain everyday clothes, jeans, shirt and shows, etc. One of them was shorter than the other with the shorter one having long black hair, and dark green eyes with a narrow sharp face. The other one was much taller with tall spiky pale blond hair that was almost like flames with an angular face and sharp grey eyes.

"State your names" Kaiba told them.

"I'm Reiner Mr. Kaiba" the pale-blond haired boy said with a small smile.

"I'm Marco" the other one said in a bland, quiet tone.

"We're here for the finals" Reiner said for both of them as they presented their locator cards. Kaiba nodded and had his workers collect the locator cards and gave them ID cards. Once given their ID cards the two of them just stood off to the side out of the way.

Joey's eyes were narrowed at the two of them "Yugi" he whispered to his lifelong friend. "I don't trust those guys; they're giving me weird vibes." Yugi's eyes also narrowed slightly as he looked upon the two boys "What should we do?"

"We don't know if it's one of the yet, so for now we should do nothing" Yugi responded back.

"What are you two whispering about" Tea and Mai said to them making them jump and making their children giggle at them.

"Nothing" both of them said quickly, but by the narrowed eyes they both got Yugi and Joey knew they'd have to explain everything soon. Hell they didn't even want their wives to be coming on this trip or bring the children because of what could happen, but the two women were stubborn and wanted their children to see their daddies in action.

Before anymore conversation could go underway two more people approached; one of them tall wearing a hat with the right half of his face bandaged up and… was that a crocodile on his back? The second person was a dark skinned very muscular boy with deep hazel eyes and a duel disk on his waist that looked like a gun. He looked like a mercenary.

"Identity" Kaiba asked them both.

"The names Jim Mr. Kaiba. Jim Crocodile Cook" the boy in the hat said with a thick Australian accent.

"I'm Axel Brodie" the other boy said in a simple straight-to-the-point tone. Both of them pulled out their locator cards and presented them to Kaiba.

"Very well; welcome aboard" Kaiba said to them after they got their identification passes. "Just keep your… pet on a leash" he said to Jim.

"Ah no worries; Shirley wouldn't hurt a fly" Jim said confidently.

"Jim, Axel" a southern voice called out to them. Both of them, and everyone else by extension, turned to see a teenage boy with spikey, messy teal hair and matching teal eyes running up to them.

"Jesse" Axel and Jim said to their friend. "So you made it too" Axel asked.

"Oh yeah; got my locator cards and everything" Jesse said with a grin presenting his cards. "Oh that reminds me" he walked over to Kaiba and presented his cards. "Here you go Mr. Kaiba" he said. Kaiba nodded and gave Jesse his ID card and after that Jesse went back to Axel and Jim and the two began to walk.

Joey looked at the three friends "Reminds you of the old days doesn't it Yugi" he asked.

Yugi chuckled "It definitely does. The next generation of duelists looks strong."

"Indeed Yugi-boy, just wait until you see them in action especially young Jesse over there" Pegasus said.

Others got curious now "What do you mean Pegasus" Yugi asked.

"I've visited Duel Academy plenty of times; I must say Kaiba you did well in setting up that school. So many talented duelists are being produced there" Pegasus said.

"Of course they are" Kaiba said with a smirk.

"Anyway, while visited there and seeing the new young duelists I've comprised a list of my own personal Top 5 New Generation Duelists" Pegasus said. "The young boy who just showed up is Jesse Anderson, the number 2 duelist on my list."

Jesse just became a lot more interesting in the eyes of the older duelists. "Well, well it feels like a reunion" another voice said. This voice came from a new arrival; this arrival being a person with pale skin, blue eyes wearing a white suit and having shoulder length grey hair.

"Aster" Jesse greeted with a wave. "I thought you'd be out dueling in the Pro-League right now."

"And miss this tournament; you must be crazy" Aster said with a confident look on his face. Turning to Kaiba Aster pulled his locator cards out "My locator cards Mr. Kaiba." After attaining his ID card Aster went and joined Jesse, Jim and Axel.

"Another familiar face I guess" Tristan murmured. Joey nodded next to him.

"I recognize him" Yugi said. "That's Aster Phoenix; the Destiny Duelist."

"Destiny Duelist" Serenity said. "What do you mean by that Yugi?"

"He's known as the Destiny Duelist because he has a rare and unique brand of monsters known as the Destiny HERO's" Yugi explained. "I don't know much about their abilities, but the rumor is that they're incredibly strong and the cards that go with them are hard to combat against."

"Hmm" Mai hummed. "Is he one of your top five Pegasus?"

"Why yes my dear" Pegasus said pleasantly. "He is number 3 on my list right behind Jesse-boy."

"That leaves Number 4, 5 and 1" Tea said. "Who are they anyway?"

"My dear; if they show up I will be happy to tell you" Pegasus said with a chuckle.

Ten minutes later two more people showed up; one of them pale skinned with spiky black hair wearing an all-black outfit and the other one shorter with light blue hair, matching eyes with glasses wearing black pants and a blue long sleeved shirt.

"Identification" Kaiba demanded.

"Chazz Princeton" the boy in black said with a smirk displaying his locator cards.

"Syrus Truesdale Mr. Kaiba" the blue haired boy said respectfully also displaying his cards. Kaiba nodded, collected their locator cards and gave them their ID's and then the two others were promptly greeted by the others and began talking with one another.

"So many young duelists" Mako said looking at them all. "It makes me feel kind of old."

"I think it's nice" Pegasus said. "Watching the newest generation step up and take their place. It's a truly heartwarming experience."

"So, the two new guys apart of your list" Joey asked.

"Yes, the blue haired child, Syrus Truesdale" Pegasus told them.

"That little pipsqueak, really" Mai said in disbelief. "He's even shorter than Yugi was at that age."

"Hey" Yugi whined getting Tea and his daughter to giggle.

Pegasus also chuckled well naturedly "Don't let his small appearance fool you; he may look delicate, but he is in possession of the strongest Cyber Style deck in the world."

'Cyber Style' a few of them thought trying to think of that particular style of duel monsters.

"Mr. Kaiba" one of Kaiba's workers said. "We are due to set off in five minutes, but two of the finalists have yet to show up."

"We'll take off regardless; the finalists knew where to show up and the time" Kaiba said without care. "If they're late; it's their problem." 'But the two that are late could be in possession of one of the Wicked God's' he thought silently.

Meanwhile everyone else was talking together "Wow, the whole gang's back together again" Aster said with a smirk.

"Too right mate; it feels good to see everyone again" Jim agreed.

"We're just missing Jaden" Axel said. "In fact I'm surprised he's not here."

"Oh he'll be here" Syrus said confidently. "The biggest tournament of our lifetime and Jaden missing it; that's not gonna happen."

"You're right about that" Chazz said looking out into the distance. "Here he comes now and he's brought a guest." The others turned around sharply and sure enough here came Jaden walking down the pier and next to him was Alexis walking side by side with duel disks strapped firmly to their arms.

"Jaden" almost all of them cried before rushing towards him. Jaden laughed and greeted all of them with high fives or small hugs. Similarly Alexis received the greetings as well from her friends.

"Mr. and Mrs. Popular I take it" Mai said dryly. "Oh well, either way it's nice to see another female here, am I right ladies."

"Yeah" both Serenity and Rebecca said. Everyone pardoned ways for Jaden and Alexis to walk up to Kaiba.

"Identification" Kaiba said.

"Jaden Yuki" Jaden said.

"Alexis Rhodes" Alexis said.

Both of them presented their locator cards and Kaiba took them before presenting them with their ID cards. "Attention all finalists" he announced getting their attention. "The 16 finalists of the Ultimate Tournament have now arrived. If you will follow me will proceed."

With that the sixteen finalists followed Kaiba on board his ship and the others proceeded to follow them up. Once on board the ship started up and they began to sail out of Domino Pier. The deck of the ship had a wide area in the front giving one a perfect view of the ocean and the setting sun.

While on the ship everyone mingled with one another; Jaden and his whole group were mingled together talking about the old times and what everyone had been doing after they had graduated. Axel, Aster and Jim all gave a hearty congratulations to Jaden and Alexis when they found out they were engaged.

After a while of mingling with one another Kaiba called their attention "I will only explain this once so listen up" Kaiba said. Everyone went silent "The Finals for the Ultimate Tournament will proceed just like every other duel did before. You start with 4000 life points, first to hit zero loses and the loser forfeits up his rarest card. However the finals will be played differently than the normal duels. As an added bonus for more challenges; the final matches will be Deck Master Duels."

"Deck Master Duels" Syrus said confused.

"A Deck Master duel is when both duelists select a monster from their deck to act as a Deck Master" Axel explained. "That Deck Master will be completely excluded from the game and have a special ability that can be used any time during the game. You can chose to move your Deck Master into the duel at any moment during the duel, but should your Deck Master be destroyed then you automatically lose the duel."

"Yikes, that sounds challenging" Syrus said a little nervously.

"Choose your Deck Master well because it will be the only Deck Master you'll be allowed to use during the entire tournament." Kaiba informed them. "To make everything fair for everyone the duels will be determined via a random selection on this screen behind me" Kaiba continued. The wall behind him opened up displaying a massive screen. Kaiba's riches could afford anything it seems "When you all arrived you received an ID card; that ID card is linked to the Kaiba-Corp. Mainframe and gives us all of your basic information. Using that information the computer will randomly pair you up with any opponent. In just a moment the first two duelists will be selected to duel each other."

Everyone looked up at the screen as it flared to life and began to rapidly shuffle through names before stopping with a loud beep revealing the first two names.

Jaden Yuki vs. Weevil Underwood

Jaden smirked 'Didn't waste any time did they.'

Weevil chuckled sinisterly 'A little worm ready to be squashed.'

"Those who have been chosen for the first match step into the dueling arena behind you" Kaiba said. Both Jaden and Weevil turned and walked out into the dueling arena while everyone else stepped back. "Duelists choose your Deck Masters."

Weevil shuffled through his deck before smirking nastily. "I select Cocoon of Evolution as my Deck Master." Behind Weevil appeared a massive cocoon.

Jaden also shuffled through his deck before spotting the one he was looking for "I select Yubel as my Deck Master." Behind Jaden Yubel appeared standing with arms crossed.

Kaiba looked at both duelists with a scrutinizing gaze before announced "Now duelists shuffle your decks and then the first match of the Ultimate Tournament Finals will begin." Both Weevil and Jaden shuffled their decks before putting them in their duel disks before activating them.

"GAME ON" they both shouted.

Weevil: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Jaden's in the first match; this'll be a great duel" Jesse said.

"No doubt about it" Axel agreed with Jesse.

"Yeah, but he is dueling Weevil Underwood; he is known as the Ultimate Insect user" Syrus said worrying for his friend.

"Oh please, Jaden will squash that guy like the cockroach that he is" Chazz said dismissively. Chazz knew that Jaden would win; there was no doubt about it.

"I'll go first if you don't mind" Weevil said to Jaden before drawing a card. Smirking he said "I summon Pheromone Wasp in attack mode." Out on the field appeared a nasty looking wasp (800/800). "To finish my move I place two cards facedown. You're move amateur."

'We'll see who the amateur is' Jaden thought. "My move" he called drawing a card. "I summon Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy to the field." On the field appeared a muscular monster with a sick and twisted grin (300/600). "But that's not all; thanks to Infernal Prodigy's special ability when you have a monster on the field he counts as a special summon. I now sacrifice Infernal Prodigy in order to summon out Evil HERO Malicious Edge." On the field appeared one of Jaden's most powerful monsters with its customary razor sharp claws (2600/1800).

"What; that's not possible" Weevil shouted. "That monster requires two sacrifices."

"Not while you have a monster it doesn't" Jaden smirked. "When you do Malicious Edge just needs one sacrifice."

"Nice combo; he summoned out a powerful monster with no effort at all" Mai said impressed. Others agreed with her.

"And now to activate Infernal Prodigy's second effect" Jaden said. "When he's sacrificed on the same turn that he's summoned I get to draw one new card from my deck." Jaden drew a new card "And now Malicious Edge attack his Pheromone Wasp with Malicious Slice attack." Malicious Edge jumped towards Pheromone Wasp.

"I don't think so" Weevil snickered sinisterly. "I activate my facedown card Mimesis. With this card I get to return Pheromone Wasp to my hand." Pheromone Wasp vanished before Malicious Edge could hit it. "But in return I get to summon a new insect; Parasite Caterpillar." On the field a large caterpillar appeared on the field (800/800). "Now he becomes your new target."

"Fine with me; you lose the same amount of life points just the same" Jaden said as Malicious Edge sliced through Parasite Caterpillar.

Jaden: 4000

Weevil: 2200

Weevil smirked "That may have cost me more life points than I wanted, but it works out just the same."

"What do you mean" Jaden asked.

"I activate Parasite Caterpillar's special ability" Weevil said. Parasite Caterpillar came out of nowhere and attached itself to Malicious Edge.

"Malicious Edge" Jaden said surprised.

Weevil chuckled "When Parasite Caterpillar is selected as a target I get to equip it to your all powerful Malicious Edge and turn him into an insect as well. The best part is now that he's been infected with Parasite Caterpillar he can't attack, defend or be used as a tribute."

Jaden scowled as his monster became trapped "Fine, I have no choice, but to end my turn."

"Then I'll start again" Weevil smirked. His smirk widened "I summon Pheromone Wasp back to the field." Pheromone Wasp reappeared on the field "And I hate to bring more bad news to you, but if the monster infected with Parasite Caterpillar is the only monster you have on the field then I get to attack directly."

"Oh no" Jim said.

"That's not good" Syrus said nervously.

"Now Pheromone Wasp attack his life points directly" Weevil commanded. Pheromone Wasp charged forward and gave Jaden a bee sting he'll never forget.

Jaden: 3200

Weevil: 2200

"And since Pheromone Wasp inflicted damage with a direct attack it allows me to summon Leghul to the field." On the field appeared a nasty looking centipede monster (300/350). "Now I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"About time; my move" Jaden said drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Jaden drew his two cards and smirked. "First I summon Prime Neos." On the field a younger looking Neos appeared wearing a cape (1800/1500). "I'm not done yet; next I activate Coming of Neos." The spell card showed a picture of Elemental HERO Neos charging through space. "This card allows me to take Elemental HERO Neos from my deck and add it to my hand." As he did that one of Neos' shoulder's glowed.

"Next I activate this; my Emblem of the Cyber" Jaden said. "With this I can add one monster with 'Cyber' in its name to my hand and I chose Cyber Raider." Neos' other shoulder glowed.

"Why is your monster glowing" Weevil demanded. "What are those?"

"They're Cosmic Counters" Jaden replied. "And they activate whenever I play a spell card. Now for my next card I play Monster Reincarnation. With it I bring Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy back to my hand." Now Neos' eyes were glowing "And now that Prime Neos has three Cosmic Counters I can activate his special ability. I sacrifice my Prime Neos in order to summon Elemental HERO Neos." Jaden's signature card appeared on the field (2500/2000).

Weevil looked a little nervous now "But wait; I'm not done yet" Jaden said with his usual smirk. "Now I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Neos with Cyber Raider in my hand in order to summon the one and only Cyber Neos." The two monster's fused together and created Jaden's mechanized Neos (2900/2500).

"Another new monster" Chazz said surprised. "I swear this guy has more Neos cards then actual Elemental HERO's."

"Now before I attack I activate Cyber Neos' special ability" Jaden said. "You see I never really liked bug's and this caterpillar attached to my hero is really bugging me." Weevil growled at him "So I activate Cyber Neos' ability; an ability that lets me transfer the equip spell card to another monster and I choose to attach it to your Leghul."

"No, not my Leghul" Weevil cried, but there was nothing he could do as Parasite Caterpillar was now attached to Weevil's Leghul.

"And now with that caterpillar attached to your Leghul you can't attack my life points" Jaden said.

"Nice counter" Mako said looking at the play. "Not only did he save his own monster, but now Weevil can't strike his life points."

"This kid is good" Mai said slightly impressed.

"Now Weevil, it's over" Jaden said. "Cyber Neos attack with Cosmic Stridence." Cosmic Neos jumped into the air ready to attack.

"Don't think you've beaten me" Weevil shouted at him. "I activate my trap card DNA Surgery and I also activate my spell card Insect Barrier."

"Oh no" Jaden gasped realizing what was about to happen.

Weevil smirked "With DNA Surgery I'm going to turn all your monster's into insects." All of Jaden's monster's got insect features on them "And thanks to Insect Barrier none of them can attack." Cyber Neos hit the barrier and bounced back off landing on Jaden's side of the field. "Good try, but no."

Jaden growled slightly "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move again" Weevil said drawing a card. 'My Poison Butterfly strategy may have been turned against me, but it won't matter. A few turns and nothing will matter for him anymore.' "I activate Cell Division and with it I'm taking one level 3 or lower insect monster and summoning a token with the same attack and defense." A second Pheromone Wasp appeared on the field. "And now here comes the Queen of all insects; I sacrifice Pheromone Wasp and my Cell Division Token in order to summon Insect Queen." On the field a massive spider-like monster appeared with a mighty shriek (2200/2400).

"Ugh, not that thing again" Joey shuddered remembering when he faced that thing.

"That Insect Queen might be powerful, but Jaden still has the advantage" Alexis said confident in Jaden.

"Not when Weevil activates her effect" Axel said gravely.

"Now I hope you're not allergic to stings because my Insect Queen is quite pokey" Weevil sneered at him.

"Ugh, no insect puns please; I'm gonna be sick" Jaden shuddered.

"You'll be sick after this; Insect Queen's special ability allows her to gain 200 attack points for each insect monster on the field" Weevil said. "And thanks to DNA surgery there are 4 insects on the field so Insect Queen gains 800 more attack points." Insect Queen glowed as her attack points rose (2200+800=3000/2400).

"3000 attack points" Jesse gasped.

"None of Jaden's monsters can stand up to that kind of firepower" Aster said softly.

"And I think I'll make your suffering worse by activating this spell card" Weevil said showing a spell card that depicted a massive hive. "It's known as Insect Hive and once I equip it to my Insect Queen she gains another 300 attack points for every insect monster on the field including herself." Insect Queen roared as her attack points increased again (3000+1200=4200/2400).

"4200 attack points" Jaden gasped.

"And you're about to feel them all" Weevil said smugly. "Insect Queen attack his Malicious Edge now." Insect Queen charged forward and stuck Malicious Edge with her stinger destroying the monster. Weevil laughed victoriously "Take that you amateur; my insects can't be stopped." The smoke cleared revealing Jaden standing strong with no damage.

Jaden: 3200

Weevil: 2200

"What; how's that possible? You should have lost half of your life points" Weevil shouted. "You're cheating."

"I'm not cheating; I'm using my Deck Master special ability" Jaden said with a smirk. "It's called 'Pain Protection' and as long as I merely send two cards from my deck to the graveyard then Yubel makes all battle damage to me become zero. Unfortunately I can only do it once per turn."

"Another good save" Tristan murmured. "This kid definitely knows what he's doing." Various murmur of agreement was what he got in response.

Weevil scowled "I guess I end my turn" he said reluctantly. "But since Inset Queen destroyed a monster I get an insect token." Inset Queen laid an egg on the field (100/100).

"Then it's my move" Jaden said drawing a card. Looking at his hand "I switch Cyber Neos to defense mode and that's it for now."

Weevil smirked "Then it's my turn again" he said drawing a card. Then his Leghul glowed and transformed into a new monster known as Poison Butterfly (2700/2300). Weevil scowled while Jaden smirked.

"What just happened" Syrus asked confused.

"It's the effect of Parasite Caterpillar" Axel said. "After three turns have passed since it infected a monster it transforms into Poison Butterfly. While it may be a powerful card whoever uses it loses 500 attack points at the end of their turn. Since Jaden managed to transfer it to Weevil with Cyber Neos he doesn't have to worry about it, but now Weevil has two powerful monsters to attack with."

Sure enough Weevil smirked "Your Deck Master may be able to stop attacks, but you don't want to just recklessly discard cards from your deck do you." Jaden remained stone-faced, but internally he knew Weevil was right. "Now Insect Queen destroy that Cyber Neos." Insect Queen charged forward and attacked Cyber Neos. Cyber Neos was destroyed "And now Poison Butterfly attack his life points directly."

"I activate my facedown card Flute of Summoning Kuriboh" Jaden called. "This lets me summon one Winged Kuriboh from my deck and onto the field." Winged Kuriboh appeared just in time and took this hit for Jaden. 'Thanks a lot old friend' Jaden thought. "And thanks to Winged Kuriboh's special ability I take no damage when he's destroyed." Smirking he added "I can't say the same for you."

Weevil scowled "Either way I get another insect token." An insect token appeared on the field next to the other one. Weevil grunted as his life points dropped thanks to Poison Butterfly.

Jaden: 3200

Weevil: 1700

"Now it's my move" Jaden said drawing a card.

Weevil scowled at him 'That little punk may have lasted this long and thwarted my ever move, but once my next turn is done he's finished.'

Jaden looked at his hand and saw he only had two cards left "I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode and place one card facedown; that's it for me."

"What a pathetic move; my turn now" Weevil said drawing a card. He smirked something vicious "This is the beginning of the end for you Jaden. I place one card facedown and then I sacrifice one of my insect token's to summon Armored Centipede" he said. One of his token's vanished and a massive centipede took its place (1600/1300.) "Next I activate the trap card I placed down; Infestation." Snickering Weevil said "Each monster loses 100 attack points and we take damage x100 for each monster we control." Inset Queen lost 100 (4700-100=4600/2400). Armored Centipede lost 100 (1600-100=1500/1300) Poison Butterfly lost 100 (2700-100=2600/2300). And finally Clayman lost 100 (800-100=700/2000). Then they both lost life points.

Jaden: 3100

Weevil: 1400

"It seems you suffered more than I did" Jaden pointed out.

"You got to spend life points to take life points" Weevil smirked at him. "Poison Butterfly attack his Clayman." Poison Butterfly attacked Clayman and the attack hit destroying it. "Now Armored Centipede attack him directly." Armored Centipede charged forward and struck Jaden head on making him cringe in pain.

Jaden: 1600

Weevil: 1400

"And now Insect Queen end this duel" Weevil shouted.

"Not quite" Jaden shouted. "I activate my Deck Master special ability; I discard two cards from my deck and my life points are safe." Jaden discarded two cards and Yubel created an invisible barrier that protected him.

Weevil scowled "You won't save yourself next turn. I place one card facedown" Smirking he internally thought 'Especially now that I can unleash my ultimate beast next turn.' Then he winced when Poison Butterfly took 500 more life points from him.

Jaden: 1600

Weevil: 900

'He's right' Jaden thought. 'I've got no monsters on the field and no card in my hand; my facedown won't help me unless I have more cards.' Looking at his deck Jaden breathed in and drew his card before looking at it. "Awesome; it's just what I needed."

"What" Weevil sneered.

"I activate Card of Sanctity; now we both get to draw until we have six cards" Jaden said. Jaden drew six cards while Weevil drew four cards. Smirking Jaden said "First I'm going to activate Monster Reborn to bring back Elemental HERO Neos." Jaden's favorite card returned to the field. "Alright now to squash these bugs; I activate my facedown card Miracle Contact."

"Miracle Contact; I've never heard of that card before" Weevil gasped.

"Well allow me to educate you on it" Jaden said. "What it does is allow me to summon a Neos Fusion monster, but instead of using Polymerization I merely send them back to my deck. So I choose Elemental HERO Neos and Neo-Spacian Glow Moss." Both monsters jumped into the air "Go, Contact Fusion." Everyone watched in silent awe as the two monsters fused together and created a new monster "Say hello to the one and only Elemental HERO Glow Neos." On the field appeared the brightly glowing Neos monster (2500/2000).

"Big deal; you can't do a thing with that monster especially with my Insect Barrier in place" Weevil said confidently.

"Then I guess I'll destroy it" Jaden said. Weevil gasped in shock "I activate Glow Neos' special ability; an ability that allows me to destroy one spell card on the field. Say goodbye to that Insect Barrier." Glow Neos launched a glowing pike that hit the Insect Barrier and destroyed it. "And thanks to Glow Neos' ability; when I destroy a spell card he gets to attack directly this turn. Go Glow Neos; he can't stop us anymore." Glow Neos charged towards Weevil.

"Not so fast; go Negate Attack" Weevil shouted desperately. "This trap stops all attack for the turn." Glow Neos' attack was stopped in its track.

Jaden grunted; he was so close "Fine then; I activate the spell card Contact Out. Now Glow Neos defuses." Both Neos and Glow Neos defused and formed back to their original forms, but in defense mode.

"Uh… why did he do that" Tristan asked confused.

"Because of Glow Neos' effect" Yugi said. "It's a powerful monster and easy to summon, but leaves the field at the end of the turn. He had no choice, but to defuse it so at least he wouldn't be defenseless."

"And to end my turn I activate the effect of the Elemental HERO Necroshade in my graveyard" Jaden said. "I can summon an Elemental HERO without a sacrifice so I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge in defense mode." Jaden's monster appeared in defense mode along with Glow Moss and Neos (2600/1800). "Your move Weevil."

"Thank you" Weevil smirked. His look was downright diabolical now "And now comes your downfall Jaden Yuki. It's now been five turns so I can activate my Deck Master's special ability." The cocoon that Weevil had selected for his Deck Master began to crack and split before it exploded and released a brand new monster. It was a massive green moth "Behold the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth; my true Deck Master."

Jaden widened his eyes slightly as his eyes laid sight on that massive behemoth of a moth 'Oh this is not good' he thought.

Weevil snickered "And now to activate my Deck Master's special ability. By sacrificing half of my life points and one monster on my field I can destroy one of your monsters and you take damage equal to half of its defense points."

"What" Jaden shouted.

"You heard me; now I sacrifice my Poison Butterfly" he began as Poison Butterfly vanished as did half of his life points.

Jaden: 1600

Weevil: 450

"And now say goodbye to your precious Neos" Weevil smirked. "Go my moth; Poison Mist Wings." The Great Moth flapped its wings and the gust hit Neos destroying it and the backlash hit Jaden harshly.

Jaden: 600

Weevil: 450

Weevil chuckled maliciously at Jaden's beaten appearance "You can't beat me you amateur. You never could; next turn you're finished. But to make sure you don't get any ideas I switch my Armored Centipede to defense mode."

"Man, Jaden's in a tough spot" Aster said. "With 600 life points left; all Weevil has to do is activate that Deck Master ability again and Jaden's finished."

"He's not finished; he can still turn this around" Alexis said with unwavering conviction in her voice.

"Too bad everyone can't share your optimism" Chazz muttered quietly.

Kaiba looked at Jaden 'It looks like he's not the Supreme King; if he can't even beat Weevil.'

Jaden breathed in 'Alright Jaden; you need the right card to finish this. Just one draw' he thought. Calming himself Jaden drew his card and a flash of power assaulted everyone and it startled a few who were not used to this. Jaden looked at his card and he smirked "Well Weevil" he said to the bug duelist "This was a fun duel, but now it ends. And it starts with this card: Fusion Gate."

"Huh" was all Weevil could say. Jaden activated the field spell card and the playing field changed. "Now I'm going to use the power of Fusion Gate in order to summon a fusion monster. I fuse together Elemental HERO Bladedge with the Elemental HERO Sparkman in my hand in order to summon the one and only Elemental HERO Plasma Vice." With Bladedge and Sparkman combining together they formed a very sharp looking monster that was blazing with electricity (2600/2300).

"That won't beat me" Weevil shouted at him.

"Oh is that what you think; let me prove you wrong" Jaden said. "You see Plasma Vice has a special effect; if he attacks a monster in defense mode the difference in points is deducted from your life points."

"What; I've only for 450 life points left" Weevil screamed. "No, this can't be happening."

"It is and it's over" Jaden said victoriously. "Plasma Vice attack his Armored Centipede with Plasma Light attack." Plasma Vice roared and launched a large blast of electricity that blasted through Armored Centipede destroying it and wiping Weevil out.

Jaden: 600

Weevil: 0

One of Kaiba's workers, acting as referee, announced "The duel is over; the winner is Jaden Yuki."

"That's game" Jaden winked.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	8. Chapter 8

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Eight)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

With that the MC announced "With the first match over Jaden Yuki now advances to the Quarter-Finals. We will take a five minute intermission and then the next match will be announced."

"Alright Jaden" all his friends rushed towards him tossing him into the air a bit before clapping him on the shoulder still cheering.

"Geez, look at those guys" Joey laughed. "There friend wins the first match and they act like he just beat Yugi."

"They're all just really close to each other" Yugi said smiling at the group of friends.

Kaiba wasn't too touchy-feely on this "If you're all done here" he said walking up to them. They calmed down a bit and Kaiba turned to Jaden "You won the first match; as such you are entitled to your opponent's rarest card."

Jaden turned back to Weevil, seeing him trying to slink away, but instead of getting mad he just laughed. "I'll pass; his cards would throw off my deck's dynamics anyway" Jaden said.

Kaiba shrugged "If that's what you want" he said before walking away.

"That was a sweet duel out there Jay; I haven't seen you have a duel like that in a long time" Syrus said feeling all pumped up from seeing the duel.

"Looks like you've definitely gotten better slacker" Chazz smirked. "I'll look forward to dueling you in the finals."

"Assuming you make it to the finals" Aster smirked.

Everyone began to laugh slightly as Chazz and Aster got in each other's faces until Alexis pulled Jaden away "You were amazing out there" she said softly.

Jaden smiled "Thanks… but there's still so much more to do." Jaden looked over to the competitors Reiner and Marco with narrowed eyes "One of those two is the Transcendent Emperor, but I can't tell who it is."

Alexis turned his face back to her gently "Don't worry about that right now; focus on other things. Your time will come; don't worry." Jaden finally nodded and shared a small kiss with her.

"Attention Duelists" the MC announced. "The competitors for the next match will now be chosen." Everyone turned back to face the screen as it began to rapidly rush through names before coming to a stop on two names.

Rex Raptor vs. Jesse Anderson

Jesse grinned "Alright; looks like it's my turn to duel."

Rex grunted 'Man; seeing that Jaden kid whoop Weevil like that was nerve-wracking.' Looking to Jesse Rex thought 'And I bet this guy is no different. No way am I going to lose in the first round; no way. I will not be humiliated any longer.'

Both Jesse and Rex stood in the duel arena staring at one another "Alright duelists; select your Deck Master."

Rex cycled through his deck before finding the monster he wanted "I choose the mighty Serpent Night Dragon." Behind him the Serpent Night Dragon appeared with a mighty roar.

Jesse cycled through his deck before smirking "For my Deck Master; I select Rainbow Zombie." Behind Jesse his Rainbow Zombie appeared and stood silently waiting orders.

"Alright then; if you are both ready then the duel will now begin" the MC said.

"You're going down you little punk" Rex taunted Jesse.

"We'll see about that" Jesse responded. "I'll go first" he drew a card and looked at his hand. "Alright for my first move I summon Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise in defense mode." On the field appeared Jesse's tortoise hiding inside its shell with emerald spikes sticking from the shell (600/2000).

"Crystals" Tea said in awe staring at the monster.

"Wow, mommy they're so beautiful" her daughter said in awe.

"And to end my move I place three cards face down on the field" Jesse said.

"Then it's my move now" Rex said drawing a card. Looking at his hand he smirked "And to begin with I activate the effect of my Gilasaurus, which allows me to summon it to the field automatically." On the field a giant raptor dinosaur appeared (1400/400). "But I'm not done yet because I have a second Gilasaurus in my hand and I'm using the same effect to summon it to the field." On the field a second Gilasaurus appeared with a roar. "And I'm not done yet, for next I summon Kaitoptera." On the field a pterodactyl like monster appeared on the field with a loud screech (1400/1000). "To end my turn I place one card facedown."

"Not bad; he built up his field with monsters" Aster commented. "But none of them can break through Emerald Tortoise's defense."

"Chip away at the enemy's stronghold and eventually it crumbles" Axel said. "Let's just hope Jesse has a strategy."

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. "Alright; I summon out Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat." On the field a pink cat with a large purple gem on its chest appeared on the field (1200/400).

"That little pussycat won't be able to do a thing to my dinosaurs" Rex said arrogantly.

"Pussycat he says" Amethyst Cat hissed. "Jesse, let me show him what this pussycat can do."

"Alright girl, we'll let him have it" Jesse said. "I attack with Amethyst Cat." Amethyst Cat jumped at Rex.

"You fool; your cat is too weak for my monsters" Rex boasted.

"Who said I was going for your monsters" Jesse smirked making Rex go wide eyed as Amethyst Cat charged past Rex's monsters and sliced into him.

Jesse: 4000

Rex: 3400

"What just happened" Joey said confused. "How'd he do that?"

Overhearing them Jesse said "My Amethyst Cat has a special ability; she can attack an opponent directly as long as her attack points are cute in half when it happens. With that I end my turn."

Rex growled and drew a card "I'm turning that cat into dinosaur food. I activate Polymerization and fuse Kaitoptera and Gilasaurus together in order to summon Horned Saurus." On the field both monsters vanished and formed a massive black pterodactyl-like monster (2000/1800).

"Yikes, big bird" Jesse said with a nervous grin.

"This big bird is about to feast on your life points" Rex said. "Especially since when he's fusion summoned he can attack you directly this turn. Go Horned Saurus; attack his life points directly." Horned Saurus charged forward intent on hitting Jesse head on.

"Not so fast there; I activate my facedown card G Force" Jesse said.

"G what" Rex said shocked.

"G Force; it's a trap card that instead makes your monster do battle with a Crystal Beast Monster in my hand" Jesse said. Rex growled "And the monster you'll do battle with is Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus." On the field appeared a massive Pegasus horse with sapphire studs in its body (1800/1200).

"Big deal; it's still 200 points weaker than my Horned Saurus" Rex said confidently.

"That's what you'd think" Jesse responded. "That's why I activate the spell card M Force. This spell card increases Sapphire Pegasus's attack points by 500." Sapphire Pegasus glowed briefly as his attack points rose (1800+500=2300/1200). "Now it's your monster that's not strong enough."

"No, my Horned Saurus" Rex shouted.

"Is done for" Jesse finished. "Sapphire Pegasus use Sapphire Horn attack." Sapphire Pegasus charged and stabbed Horned Saurus through with its horn destroying it.

Jesse: 4000

Rex: 3100

Rex growled even louder "You may have stopped that attack, but you won't stop this one; Gilasaurus destroy that Amethyst Cat." Gilasaurus charged forward and chomped Amethyst Cat destroying her.

'Sorry girl' Jesse apologized silently.

Jesse: 3800

Rex: 3100

A small sapphire stone appeared on Jesse's field "What the hell; what's that" Rex demanded.

"It's the special ability of all my Crystal Beast monsters" Jesse explained. "When they're destroyed I have the option of putting them in my spell/trap card zone instead of sending them to the graveyard. And speaking of that; now that one's been sent there I can activate this card; E Force. What this card does is that it allows me to special summon a Crystal Beast from my Spell/Trap card zone back to my field. So Amethyst Cat, come on back."

Amethyst cat reappeared on the field right back next to Emerald Tortoise. Rex grunted "Fine, I end my turn."

"Then it's my move" Jesse said drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Jesse drew his two cards. "Alright I activate the spell card GEM Burst."

"More gems" Rex said annoyed.

"Oh yeah; with this card I remove from my Graveyard, G Force, E Force and M Force and in return I can put as many Crystal Beasts as I can from my hand to my spell/trap card zone. And for each one I put there you lose 500 life points."

"I what" Rex shouted wide eyed.

"Oh yeah and right now I place three of them there; Sapphire Pegasus, Amber Mammoth and Cobalt Eagle" Jesse said placing each card there. A sapphire, amber and cobalt stone appeared on his field "And since that's three; you lose 1500 life points."

Rex yelled as his life points dropped.

Jesse: 3800

Rex: 1600

"Next I activate the Field spell card Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins" Jesse said. Slamming his field spell card into the slot the entire deck transformed into the Roman Coliseum with a large rainbow going overhead.

"Hmm, I always wanted to visit Rome" Joey commented.

"And now to complete my turn; Amethyst Cat I activate your special ability" Jesse said. "Half your attack points and attack him directly." Amethyst Cat charged forward and slashed through Rex once more.

Jesse: 3800

Rex: 1000

Red growled angrily at Jesse 'That brat; he's countered every move I've ever done. My monsters keep falling and my life points do as well. How can he keep doing this with those weak monsters; they're useless and I can't use my facedown card because his spell and trap cards haven't effected my monsters at all.'

"Hey, it's your move; you gonna make it or not" Jesse called to Rex.

"I'll more than make it" Rex sneered drawing a card. He got a nasty smirk on his face as he looked at the card he drew "I move Serpent Night Dragon into play." Serpent Night Dragon moved onto the field and into play (2350/2400).

"He moved his Deck Master into play" Chazz said.

"That's a gutsy move; he must have something planned" Alexis said.

"Whatever it is Jesse will counter it" Jaden said confident in his friend's abilities.

"I know activate the Deck Master special ability of Serpent Night Dragon" Rex called. "When it's moved into play I can summon one level seven or higher dragon-type monster from my hand ignoring all summoning conditions."

"Uh oh" Jesse said nervously.

"Uh oh is right" Rex smirked. "I now summon to the field my Tyrant Dragon." A massive prehistoric dragon appeared on the field with a roar (2900/2500). Rex laughed at Jesse's look "No monster you have can save you; they're all way too weak."

"Hey, these cards are my family" Jesse shouted at him. "And someone like you has no right to call them weak." His passion-filled voice got him many smiles from the other duelists.

"Then you and your 'family' can be destroyed together" Rex smirked. "Tyrant Dragon attack his Amethyst Cat with Tyrant Wave." Tyrant Dragon launched a large wave of fire that completely enveloped Amethyst Cat. Jesse cringed from the attack.

Jesse: 2600

Rex: 1000

An amethyst stone appeared in Jesse's spell and trap card zone "And now it's time for your last line of defense to be ripped to shreds; when Tyrant Dragon attacks and you still have a monster on the field he gets to attack again."

"He what" Jesse gasped.

"Tyrant Wave attack" Rex shouted. Tyrant Dragon attacked and destroyed Jesse's Emerald Tortoise. An Emerald stone appeared in his spell and trap card zone. "Luckily for you Serpent Night Dragon can't attack on the turn I use his Deck Master Special ability, but my Gilasaurus can. Go, attack him directly." Gilasaurus charged and hit Jesse so hard he knocked him off his feet.

Jesse: 1200

Rex: 1000

"Jesse" all his friends shouted. "You okay pal" Jaden called.

"Ugh… I'm good" Jesse grunted getting back up. Wiping his lip he smirked "This guy's good; I need a good draw to come out on top." Looking at his deck he smiled "Come on deck, don't fail me now." Drawing his card Jesse looked at the card and smirked.

"What are you smirking about" Rex glared

"I'm smirking because this duel is almost over."

"For you" Rex sneered.

"We'll find out after this" Jesse said. "I activate the effect of Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. When I have five Crystal Beasts in my spell/trap card zone I can special summon one of them to my field and the one I choose is Sapphire Pegasus." Jesse's Sapphire Pegasus reappeared on the field. "And when Sapphire Pegasus is special summoned I can take one Crystal Beast from either my hand, deck or graveyard and put it in my spell/trap card zone and I choose my good friend Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle."

On the field a ruby stone appeared in Jesse's spell/trap card zone.

"And I now activate Ruby's effect; when he's put in my spell/trap card zone I can special summon him to the field" Jesse said. On his field Ruby Carbuncle appeared (300/300). All the children present looked at Ruby Carbuncle with shining eyes of want; it made Ruby blush slightly.

"That thing won't be able to do anything against my monsters" Rex said arrogantly.

"He doesn't have to" Jesse said. "Because when Ruby Carbuncle is special summoned to the field I can take as many Crystal Beast Monster's as possible from my spell/trap card zone and summon them to the field."

On the field Emerald Tortoise (600/2000), Amber Mammoth (1700/1600) and Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) appeared on the field. "And with that I'll end my turn" Jesse said.

Rex drew his next card "You're only delaying the inevitable. Did you forget that now my Serpent Night Dragon can attack and my Tyrant Dragon can attack twice? Go my monsters attack them all." In the end Jesse lost Emerald Tortoise, Amber Mammoth, Cobalt Eagle and Sapphire Pegasus "Next turn you're finished" Rex smirked.

"We'll see about that" Jesse said drawing a card. Looking at his hand he chuckled "I guess now it's truly over."

"What are you rambling about" Rex grunted.

"Take a look; I activate the spell card Crystal Beacon" Jesse said. "With this card I can summon one Crystal Beast monster from my deck and the one I choose to summon is Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger." On the field Jesse's tiger appeared with its topaz stone shining brightly (1600/1000).

"Is this the last of your pathetic weak monsters" Rex taunted.

"Yes" Jesse said calmly making Rex frown. "Now that all seven Crystal Beasts monsters are out on the field I can now summon out my most powerful monster."

"And it's over" Jaden said with a smirk. Beside him all his friends nodded in agreement.

"With all seven crystal beasts on the field I can now summon out my Rainbow Dragon" Jesse called. In a swirl of powerful, and beautiful, rainbow energy a mighty white dragon with rainbow colored gems studded in its body appeared on the field with a mighty roar (4000/0).

"The Rainbow Dragon" Pegasus said with loving awe. "How I've longed to see it in play."

Rex didn't share Pegasus' enthusiasm "That thing's huge" he gasped.

"Oh yeah and if you think he's big now wait until he attacks" Jesse said. "Rainbow Dragon attack his Serpent Night Dragon with Rainbow Blast."

"No" Rex screamed as Rainbow Dragon started its attack. "If Serpent Night Dragon is destroyed I'll lose the duel. This cannot be happening."

"Yeah, well it is" Jesse said. "Go Rainbow Dragon." Rainbow Dragon launched a large beam of rainbow energy that completely enveloped Serpent Night Dragon destroying the monster.

Jesse: 1200

Rex: 0

"The Deck Master of Rex Raptor has been destroyed" the MC announced. "Therefore the winner of the duel is Jesse Anderson."

Jesse grinned "Good duel" he said to a catatonic-like Rex. Neglecting to take the rarest card from his opponent's deck Jesse instead went off to get congratulations from his friends.

"Sweet duel out there Jesse; you had in the bag from the very beginning didn't you" Jaden said.

"Well I wouldn't say that, but it was a great duel" Jesse said with a sheepish grin. While the younger duelists talked amongst each other they were being studied by the older duelists. Here these young duelists appeared and beat duelists over ten years older than them. Even though they had only seen Jaden and Jesse duel they were counting the others as real competition already.

"Attention duelists; the names for the third duel are about to be picked" the MC announced. Everyone turned their attention to the screen as it began to cycle through names once more before finally stopping on two names.

Syrus Truesdale vs. Mako Tsunami

"The Duelists chosen for the third duel" the MC announced. "Syrus Truesdale and Mako Tsunami; duelists take your positons."

"Good luck Sy" Jaden said giving his friend a hearty pat on the back that made him stumble slightly.

"R-Right" Syrus said walking up and taking his place on one side of the Duel Arena as Mako took the other side.

"Duelists select your Deck Master" the MC called.

Mako smirked and plucked a card from his deck "My Deck Master, of course, shall be the Legendary Fisherman." On the field a fisherman riding a large mako shark wielding a spear appeared on the field.

Syrus shuffled through his deck a couple times before smiling and plucking a card from his deck "I select Dragonroid as my Deck Master." As he said that a cartoonish looking metal dragon appeared on the field behind Syrus.

"Okay, so we got a fisherman and a toy dragon" Mai said in a dry voice. "This should be fun."

"You never know Mai" Joey said to his wife. "This kid, much like his friends, is probably full of surprises."

"Alright duelists; the third match will now begin" the MC shouted.

"It's amazing you made it this far little boy, but I'll send you back to mommy soon enough" Mako taunted. "My move." Mako drew a card and smirked "I activate the field spell Umi." As he did that the entire area turned into an ocean.

"Ugh, the water" Syrus shuddered as he felt the water.

"Ha, you afraid to get wet" Mako taunted. "You're about to get even wetter; I summon to the field Great White." A massive shark with muscular arms appeared on the field with a roar (1600/800). "After that I place one card facedown; make your move kid."

"Alright" Syrus said drawing a card. Looking at his hand Syrus looked over his options. "I summon Cyber Dragon Core" he said. On the field appeared a long slithery dragon monster with red eyes and sharp mechanical teeth (400/1500). "I now activate the effect of Cyber Dragon Core; when he's successfully summoned I get to add one spell or trap card with Cyber in its name to my hand and the card I choose is Cyberdark Impact."

"No amount of spell or traps will save you from my creatures of the deep" Mako said confidently.

"Say that after you've beaten me because I now activate Cyber Destruction" Syrus said. The spell card depicted a cyber monster overloaded and about to explode. "What this does is allow me to tribute one Cyber Monster on my side of the field as long as it's level 4 or less and you take damage equal to it's attack points. So goodbye Cyber Dragon Core."

Cyber Dragon Core roared and exploded and the backlash hit Mako making him grunt from the backlash.

Syrus: 4000

Mako: 3600

"I'm not done yet because I activate Cyber Dragon Core's second ability" Syrus continued. "Since you control a monster I can banish Cyber Dragon Core from my graveyard and in return I can summon one Cyber Dragon from my deck." Syrus plucked the card from his deck and Cyber Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (2100/1600).

"Grr" Mako growled as he stared at the monster. But then he smirked silently 'Attack; feel the sting of my sea creatures' he thought.

Syrus, however, did not attack "I now activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule" he said. "With it I pick one card from my deck and put it inside this capsule. In two turns it will return to my hand. I then place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Mako said drawing a card. Smirking he said "I now move my Deck Master into play." Legendary Fisherman moved into play (1850/1600). "Thanks to Umi, all of my monsters get a 200 attack point increase." Legendary Fisherman (1850+200=2050/1600) and Great White (1800+200=2000/800) got an attack point increase. "And that's not all; as long as Umi is in play all machine monsters lose 200 attack points and that includes your Cyber Dragon."

Syrus grit his teeth as he saw his Cyber Dragon lose attack points (2100-200=1900/1600).

"Now Great White destroy his Cyber Dragon" Mako ordered as Great White shot towards Cyber Dragon.

"Sorry, not going to happen" Syrus called. "I activate my trap card Attack Reflector Unit. This trap card allows me to tribute Cyber Dragon and in return I can summon Cyber Barrier Dragon." On the field appeared a much longer and bigger dragon (800/2800) in defense mode. It was too late for Mako to call off his attack.

Syrus: 4000

Mako: 2800

Mako growled again "You may have a strong defense now, but it will not last" he vowed. "I cancel the battle phase and end my turn."

"My move" Syrus said drawing a card. "I place one card in defense mode" he said as a card appeared face down on his field. "And that's it for now."

"Then it's my move" Mako said drawing a card. 'Now he's just stalling until that Different Dimension Capsule card of his gives him that card he wants. I'm not letting that happen.' "I summon Jellyfish." On the field a large jellyfish appeared (1200/1500). "Next I activate the ritual card Fortress Whale's Oath. With it I sacrifice my Jellyfish and my Great White in order to summon Fortress Whale." Both of his monsters vanished and on the field a giant whale with a cannon on its back appeared (2350/2150). "Now my whale mow down his defensive card with Deep Sea Cannon." Fortress Whale launched a large blast of energy that struck Syrus' defense mode card.

It showed up revealing a spiky cybernetic dragon with red lights on its body. Syrus smirked "By attacking my Cyber Valley you've activated his special ability. When he's attacked I can banish him from the duel, draw one card from my deck and end the battle phase."

Mako growled as his battle ended and Syrus got another card from his deck "I end my turn." 'When is this little pipsqueak gonna attack?'

"My turn" Syrus drew a card. A capsule appeared on the field "And since two turns have no passed I get my card from Different Dimension Capsule." Putting the card in his hand Syrus grabbed a different card "I now activate Cyberdark Impact and with this card I can send Cyberdark Keel, Cyberdark Horn and Cyberdark Edge from my hand back to my deck and in return I can summon Cyberdark Dragon."

A massive dark mechanized dragon with oversized wings appeared on the field with a mighty roar (1000/1000).

"That's it; all that work for such a weak monster" Mako said in disbelief before laughing.

Syrus frowned "Laugh after this; Cyberdark Dragon gains 100 attack points for each monster in my graveyard." Mako promptly did making Syrus smirk "It may just be one monster, but it'll do." Cyberdark Dragon increased its attack (1000+100=1100/1000). "But I'm not done yet; I activate Cyberdark Dragon's effect; it allows me to take one Dragon-type monster from my graveyard and equip it to my Cyberdark Dragon."

Cyber Dragon appeared and wrapped around Cyberdark Dragon giving it its attack points, but because it was brought from the graveyard it lost its extra 100 attack points (1100-100=1000+2100=3100/1000).

Mako gasped "3100 attack points." Gritting his teeth he called out "Don't forget Umi makes your monster lose 200 attack points." Cyberdark Dragon lost some attack points (3100-200=2900/1000).

"I may have lost some points, but Cyberdark Dragon is still powerful enough to take down your monsters and you've left your Deck Master completely unprotected" Syrus said.

"I think not; Legendary Fisherman cannot be attacked while Umi is on the field" Mako said confidently.

"But your Fortress Whale can be; Cyberdark Dragon attack with Dark Strident burst" Syrus shouted. His Cyberdark Dragon roared and launched a massive beam at Fortress whale.

Mako smirked 'Finally he attacked' he thought. "I activate my trap card; Wrath of the Sea." This card depicted a massive tsunami about to envelop a boat. "When your monster attacks my monster it's all rebounded back at you and it destroys all monsters on your side of the field." Cyberdark Dragon's attack was absorbed and launched back at Syrus destroying his Cyberdark Dragon and his Cyber Barrier Dragon. "Oh and did I forget to mention; you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's combined attack points. So in other words say goodbye to 3500 life points."

A massive attack hit Syrus knocking him off his feet.

Mako: 2800

Syrus: 500

"Oh man, that backlash just took a huge chunk of Syrus' life points" Alexis gasped.

"It's not over yet; Syrus can still make a comeback" Jesse said.

Syrus got back up shaking a bit before sighing slightly 'Man that was a bad trap I walked into' he thought. "Alright Mako I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

Mako laughed "And now I end it; go Legendary Fisherman attack his life points directly." Legendary Fisherman rose up from the ocean and charged towards Syrus.

"Not quite; I activate my facedown card" Syrus called. "Go Cyber Sacrifice; I sacrifice half of my life points and one of your monsters and I get to resurrect a Cyber Monster, but since it's your deck master you'll lose the duel."

"I think not" Mako smirked. "My Deck Master special ability is that while Legendary Fisherman and Umi are on the field none of my monsters are effected by spell cards." Syrus gasped as his Cyber Sacrifice spell card was destroyed. "And now it's over."

"Not yet; go Negate Attack" Syrus called activating his other facedown card. "Now your attack ends." Legendary Fisherman's attack was absorbed and the fisherman retreated to the sea. 'Too close' he thought.

"You're just stalling Truesdale; you can't stall forever" Mako said.

'He's right' Syrus thought. 'I don't have the right cards in my hand to finish the duel. I was originally going to use Power Bond to summon the Cyber End Dragon, but that won't work right now. I need one more card to end this, but I need to summon it this turn… or I will lose.'

Looking over to his friends Syrus saw all of their supporting gazes telling him he could do it. Smiling and feeling as much confidence as he could Syrus drew, what could be, his final card. Syrus looked at the card and he smirked.

"I activate the special ability of my Deck Master Dragonroid" Syrus said. "First I sacrifice half of my life points." Syrus grunted as he lost life points.

Mako: 2800

Syrus: 250

"And now every monster in my deck, my extra deck, my graveyard and my hand all become dragon-type monster and all of their attributes focus on dragon types and nothing else" Syrus said.

"Big deal what will that do" Mako demanded.

"Plenty, especially when I activate this card; Future Fusion" Syrus said. "With it I take as many monsters as I can and send them to my graveyard to summon a fusion monster and in two turns that monster will appear." Syrus then discarded three cards from his hand and took out over 2/3 of his deck and discarded it to the graveyard.

"He just discarded so much of his deck" Serenity gasped.

"The card he's summoning must be incredibly powerful" Mai said wide eyed.

Mako was looking nervous now 'That many cards discarded; the monster he's going to summon must be huge. I can't let him summon it; I must defeat him on my next turn.'

"Let me guess; you're thinking 'I must defeat him next turn right'" Syrus asked. Mako grit his teeth glaring at Syrus. "Sorry, but there is no next turn; not after I activate this."

Mako gasped at the card "Not Turn Jump" he shouted.

"Yes, Turn Jump and thanks to it three turns have now passed, which means Future Fusion activates" Syrus said. Monster spirits flew from Syrus' deck and began to fuse together. "Say hello to one of my most powerful monsters; Chimeratech Fortress Dragon." On the field a massive purple and silver dragon appeared with a circular sectioned body with two roaring heads (0/0).

"What, that thing has zero attack points" Mako pointed out.

"For now he does" Syrus said. "However Chimeratech Fortress Dragon gains attack points times 1000 for the amount of monsters I used to fuse it together. I'll let you do the math; I used 25 monsters to fuse him together."

It didn't take long for everyone to figure it out "25000 attack points" this shocked response came from Kaiba of all people.

Mako realized it was over and stood tall and silent waiting for the attack. "Now Chimeratech Fortress Dragon attack him with Strident Overload." Chimeratech Fortress Dragon roared and launched a massive beam that struck Mako's Fortress Whale. Everything was enveloped in a bright white light and when it finally vanished the field was completely empty.

Syrus: 250

Mako: 0

"The duel is over; Syrus Truesdale is the victor" the MC announced.

"Alright I won" Syrus cheered as his friends rushed up to him and carried him off the field cheering with him. The older duelists couldn't believe another one of the duelists from their generation had lost. Were their dueling skills lacking or had the new generation already surpassed them.

Five minutes passed before they knew it and the MC announced to them the competitors for the fourth duel. The screen flashed through the names before stopping loudly.

Axel Brodie vs. Reiner

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	9. Chapter 9

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Nine)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Now the two duelists up to duel would be Axel and Reiner; Jaden and his friends all knew of Axel's extreme talents and abilities as a duelist as Axel was the only one who was able to defeat the Supreme King when Jaden was stuck in the dark dimension. However Reiner was a complete mystery, but Jaden could not stop his eyes from narrowing when he looked at Reiner.

"We now begin the 4th match of the Quarterfinals" the MC announced. "Axel Brodie and Reiner; duelists select your Deck Masters."

Axel already knew what he wanted "My Deck Master will be Fire Trooper." Behind Axel his Fire Trooper appeared in a flash.

Reiner calmly took a card from his deck "My Deck Master will be White Devil." On the field a devil, like one would see in comic books, with pure white wings and a pure white body with glaring blue eyes appeared behind Reiner.

"Alright duelists; let the match begin" the MC called.

"Prepare yourself" Axel said "My move."

"Hold on" Reiner said making Axel pause. "Before you begin… let's make this duel more interesting." Axel looked confused, as did everyone else. "Instead of this being a normal duel; let's make it a duel… with our lives at stake."

"What" Axel said alarmed. Too late as Reiner's eyes glowed an ominous silver color and suddenly a white aura surrounded him and spread out through the area and enveloped the entire deck of the ship.

"Oh man, more freaky magic" Tristan cried out.

"I thought we were over this stuff" Mai agreed with Tristan as the ominous light fluttered everywhere. Yugi, Kaiba and Joey had their eyes narrowed as they stared at Reiner; this was him, the host of the Light of Destruction bent on destroying all life.

"It's him Jaden" Alexis whispered alarmed.

"I know" Jaden whispered back discreetly using his darkness powers to shield himself and Alexis. 'Axel…' he thought worried for his friend.

Reiner chuckled sinisterly as he stared at Axel "I always enjoy the look of fright on my opponent's face before the duel even begins. Unfortunately I don't have the patience to waste my time on you; I'll be merciful and end it quickly."

Axel swallowed slightly reminded of his time facing the Supreme King "Not if I end it first" he said with as much confidence as he could before drawing a card. "I activate Blaze Accelerator. As long as this card is on the field I can send one pyro-monster with less than 500 attack points to my graveyard to destroy a monster on your field."

"And because you've done that I get to activate the spell card White Abyss." Reiner plucked a card from his hand showing it to Axel; its picture depicted a soldier falling into an infinite white abyss. "I get to activate this card specifically from my hand the moment you play a spell card that could potentially destroy my monsters. Now I get to draw a single card from my deck and depending on the monster's attack points will determine how much damage your life points will take."

"No way" Axel said in disbelief.

"Oh yes" Reiner said drawing a card. His smirk looked very nasty "The card I've drawn… is White Emperor." This monster card depicted a man with long white hair dressed in thick white colored armor with a sword in his hand (4000/4000).

"4000 attack points; that means I…" was all Axel could say in shock.

"You lose" Reiner said simply.

Reiner: 4000

Axel: 0

Reiner chuckled as light from his body shot out and ensnared Axel "Axel" his friends shouted rushing towards him, but an invisible light barrier knocked them back.

"You'll have your turn eventually" Reiner smirked. "But first it's this one's turn." Reiner thrusted his hand towards Axel and a beam of light hit him right in the center of the chest. Axel gave a long cry of agony as his body glowed white. Then as quickly as it began it stopped and Axel's body went limp and he released a breath before his body exploded into white particles and vanished.

"AXEL" all of his friends shouted in horror. The older duelists could only stare wide eyed and the children had gotten scared and hugged their parents tightly. "You monster; what did you do with him" Jaden shouted.

Reiner smirked at Jaden "I sent him to the stars. You all know what that means." All of them grit their teeth and glared hatefully at Reiner. "That was just a sample of what I'm truly capable of Supreme King. Soon we will do battle and then you will fall and the Light will dominate this universe and eliminate all life."

Jaden's eyes turned golden as a black aura surrounded him "That's not going to happen" he said in a garbled voice. Reiner chuckled and walked away leaving everyone else to mourn over Axel and contemplate what just happened.

The MC announced nervously "With Axel Brodie's defeat we've come to the end of the first half of the first round of the finals. Tomorrow the duels will commence again."

SCENE CHANGE

The moment they could everyone of Jaden's friend met in his room and Jaden explained the situation to them. Needless to say none of them looked too happy "So another lunatic is intent on destroying the world eh" Chazz said. "Why am I not surprised?"

"So he's got a power just like you do Jaden" Jesse asked.

Jaden nodded "Yeah; you and Jim weren't around when it happened back during our second year. Guys, you remember Sartorius and his 'Society of Light?'" Syrus, Chazz and Aster nodded remembering that time "Back then Sartorius was infected with a power known as the Light of Destruction. It first came to earth and possessed the card your father created Aster."

"My Destiny HERO" Aster said pulling out his card. The Destiny HERO Plasma.

"Yeah" Jaden said. "The guy who killed your father then became infected with the light and in his fear he consulted Sartorius about the problem and it was there the Light possessed Sartorius. That's why he was able to do what he did; every duelist he defeated became possessed by the Light of Destruction. That's why he was able to gather so many followers. But now that the Light has awoken in its true vessel it's determined to destroy all life in this universe. The only thing standing in its way… is me."

Everyone was silent now as they contemplated what Jaden had just said. "There's nothing to think about" Jesse said getting all attention.

"What" Syrus said.

"There's nothing to think about" Jesse repeated himself. "Jaden told us what's going on and all we can do now is help him. Fated duel or not our world is being threatened and if Jaden's our only chance then I'm standing by him through thick and thin, until the end."

"Jesse" Jaden said shocked

"Me too" Syrus said standing up. "Jaden, you've been my best friend since our first day at the Duel Academy. I wouldn't be half the duelist I am right now if it wasn't for you. I'm with you Jay."

"Syrus" Jaden said feeling touched.

"Eh, the world just wouldn't be the same without you slacker" Chazz said with a friendly smirk. "So what the hell, I'll give you all the help I can."

"Chazz" Jaden said.

"You've already saved the world quite a few times and each time you haven't done it alone and that ain't about to change mate, right Shirley" Jim said. Shirley gave a roar of agreement.

"Jim" Jaden said.

"Hmm, I'd lose the competition left in the world if you were to go so I got your back Jaden" Aster finished.

'Even Aster' Jaden thought feeling the support from them all. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Jaden turned to see Alexis and she conveyed all her support through eye contact. That eye contact was all he needed. "Alright guys; when the time comes we'll stop Reiner and his plans. We'll let him know this is our world and we're not about to forfeit it."

"Right" all of them said in agreement.

SCENE CHANGE

Similarly the others were having their own meeting as well. Mako had already left the boat with his own inflatable raft to go back to Domino City since the competition was over for him; he took Weevil and Rex with him so the two couldn't do anything to exact revenge for losing, not that it would work, but it was one less headache to deal with.

Tea and Rebecca had been the one to take the children back to their private suite and keep them cozy for the time being while everyone else discussed everything that was going on. Yugi, Kaiba and Joey explained to everyone else everything that they had learned and in the end everyone was shocked and nervous.

"Two super powered entities that battled even before life existed" Tristan murmured. "And now they're in two vessels ready to battle again."

"Yes" Yugi said. "These powers are mighty; even more powerful than Marik and Dartz combined."

"Not to mention a brand new set of God Cards" Mai commented. "It feels like the original Battle City all over again."

"That's because it is" Kaiba said. "I orchestrated this tournament to lure both parties out the moment I was informed. Just because ten years have passed since anything life-threatening has happened doesn't mean someone thinks they can waltz in and take everything by force."

"So what are we going to do" Serenity asked nervously. Tristan did his best to comfort her.

"We must have faith" Yugi said standing up. "Our time saving the world has passed; we prevented the return of the Shadow Games and faced numerous evils. Now… we put our faith in the younger generation."

Pegasus clapped slightly "Well said Yugi-boy, well said. Like you, I have complete faith in these duelists; after all I know their decks inside and out."

"You do" Serenity asked.

"Of course; I've seen each of them duel" Pegasus said confidently. "Syrus Truesdale, the ultimate Cyber Duelist, Aster Phoenix, the Destiny HERO duelist, Jim Cook, the Fossil Duelist, Alexis Rhodes, the Cyber Angel Duelist, Chazz Princeton, the Level Duelist, Jesse Anderson, the Crystal Beast Duelist, and finally Jaden Yuki, the unrivaled HERO Duelist. It will take all the powers of the enemy to defeat them."

While some of them were feeling slightly convinced from Pegasus' tone there were still quite a few who didn't believe him. "Sorry Pegasus, but I believe in a select few and those kids aren't one of those few" Mai said.

"I hate to say it Pegasus, but I agree with Mai" Joey said. "They're just kids and they're facing something more powerful than what we faced at their age. They're in over their heads."

"I don't trust any dueling skills, but my own" Kaiba said bluntly.

"I hate to say it also, but I agree with Joey and the others" Tristan admitted softly.

Pegasus frowned slightly 'It seems only Yugi-boy has any faith in the newest generation.' "Oh well, if that's what you believe then we'll all just have to wait until tomorrow for the next duel to commence. Who knows, maybe some of you will be convinced because after all… one of you could be dueling them tomorrow."

"Whoever it is; I'll whoop them" Mai said confidently.

TOMORROW

The next day the sun was shining and the gulls cawed in the sky as Kaiba's yacht sailed through the waters "Attention duelists; the second half of the First Round will now commend" the MC announced. "The duelists who are clear to head to the next round are Jaden Yuki, Jesse Anderson, Syrus Truesdale and Reiner."

Jaden, Jesse and Syrus all sent their best glares to Reiner, who only smirked at them arrogantly in return.

"The finalists that are left are Alexis Rhodes, Serenity Taylor, Mai Wheeler, Chazz Princeton, Rebecca Kaiba, Jim Cook, Aster Phoenix and Marco" the MC announced as the eight finalists waited for their names to be called. "Now all remaining finalists; pay attention as the names for the next match will now be announced."

They all looked at the board and waited and watched as the screen flared to life and began to shuffle through names. Finally it stopped with a loud beep revealing the two names.

Mai Wheeler vs. Alexis Rhodes

Alexis got a wide grin on her face 'Finally, my turn' she thought.

"Go get her Alexis" Jaden whispered to her before giving her a kiss for luck. Alexis felt on top of the world right now and confidently stepped into the dueling arena to face Mai.

Mai smirked having seen the whole interaction "Aw how sweet you've got a man of your own. It's gonna be said when I crush you in front of him" she taunted.

Alexis merely smirked in return "Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you; let's see if you duel as good as you talk though considering what you went for I'm not setting my hopes high."

Joey, Tristan and Yugi all 'Oh'ed' silently at each other knowing that comment would piss Mai off a lot. Judging from her twitching eye and throbbing temple it did. Tea and Rebecca glared at the boys before calling out "Kick her butt Mai."

"Duelists; select your Deck Master" the MC called.

Mai smirked "I choose the one and only Harpie Lady." Harpie Lady appeared on the field behind Mai with a seductive deadly look.

Alexis knew her choice right away "I choose my Etoile Cyber as my Deck Master." On the field, behind Alexis, appeared her Etoile Cyber.

"Alright Duelists; begin" the MC called.

"I think I'll start this out" Mai said. "First I summon out Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode." Out on the field a rather young looking fairy monster appeared (1800/1050). "Try and get past her little girl."

"Believe me, I will" Alexis said drawing a card. Looking at her hand she plucked a card from her hand. "First I play the spell card Snow Rising." The spell card depicted snow falling hard in a blizzard "What the spell card does is allow me to special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand and the card I choose to summon is Snow Fairy." On the field a monster that looked to be made entirely of ice appeared on the field (1100/700).

Mai wasn't impressed "A little ice fairy against my dark witch; little girl you should head back to school."

"Maybe you should've gone to school because I can still summon a monster this turn" Alexis said in return making Mai scowl at her. "First I activate Icicle Sacrifice spell card; it allows me to summon one icicle token to the field." A copy of Snow Fairy appeared on the field (0/0). "I now sacrifice my Icicle Token in order to summon out White Knight Queen." On the field appeared a female monster with a cold aura about her with ice flowing off her body (2100/800). "Now White Knight Queen it's time to desolate that Dark Witch; Icicle Crash attack." White Knight Queen launched a flurry of icicles at Mai's monster and the monster was enveloped and destroyed.

Alexis: 4000

Mai: 3700

"Mommy" Michael cried seeing his mom take a hit.

"It's okay Michael" Joey assured his son. "Your mother's got this."

"Your move Mai" Alexis said confidently.

"Not bad girl, but this duel is long from over" Mai said drawing a card. She smirked at Alexis "I summon to the field my Unfriendly Amazon" she said. On the field appeared a mighty amazon warrior (2000/1000). "It won't get me much, but it'll be slight lead. Unfriendly Amazon attack her Snow Fairy." Unfriendly Amazon charged forward and slashed right though Snow Fairy.

Mai: 3700

Alexis: 3400

"You're right it won't get you much and it'll leave you defenseless this turn" Alexis said drawing a card. "White Knight Queen destroy that Unfriendly Amazon." White Knight Queen launched her ice powers at Unfriendly Amazon and destroyed her.

Mai: 3600

Alexis: 3400

"I place one card facedown and end my turn" Alexis said.

"Then it's my move again" Mai said drawing a card. Smirking she said "And I activate Harpie's Feather Duster; your facedown card is destroyed." Alexis' Doble Passe was revealed and destroyed making her grunt in anger. "But I'm not done yet; I activate the effect of my Deck Master; my Harpie Lady lets me summon out another Harpie Lady to my field and not just the standard ones so say hello to Cyber Harpie Lady." A Harpie Lady appeared on the field wearing armor (1800/1300). "Next I activate Cyber Shield and equip it to Cyber Harpie to increase her attack and defense points by 500." Cyber Harpie Lady grew even stronger (1800+500=2300/1300+500=1800).

Seeing the look on Alexis' face made Mai smirk "You're not the only one with Cyber monsters little girl. And I'm not done yet; I activate Rose Whip and equip it to my Cyber Harpie to give her another 300 attack and defense." Cyber Harpie's attack rose once more (2300+300=2600/1800+300=2100).

"2600 attack points" Alexis gasped.

"Oh yes and you're about to feel it all" Mai smirked. "Cyber Harpie Lady attack her White Knight Queen." Cyber Harpie snapped her whip and launched it at Snow White Queen and destroyed it.

Mai: 3600

Alexis: 2900

"And to end my turn I place one card face down on the field" Mai said.

Alexis drew her next card 'Nothing will help me at this point so I better defend while I have a chance.' "I place one card in defense mode and end my turn."

"Right into my trap" Mai said making Alexis wide eyed. "I activate Shadow of Eyes. Now one monster on your field in facedown defense mode is switched into attack position." Alexis' monster was revealed; and it was Blade Skater (1400/1500). "My move now girl" Mai drew a card. "Cyber Harpie Lady, attack her Blade Skater."

Cyber Harpie Lady charged forward and destroyed Alexis' Blade Skater.

Mai: 3600

Alexis: 1700

"You know, as a fellow female duelist, I expected a lot more" Mai said honestly. "Oh well, I guess I place one card face down and end my turn."

"You've seen nothing yet" Alexis said determined. "My move." She drew a card "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Drawing her two cards Alexis' eyes widened slightly 'The Cyber Angel' she thought seeing the monster she won from Tonya. Looking at her hand 'And I have the ritual card to summon it… but I'm missing the right amount of monsters.' Looking at her hand 'I can do something though.'

"I summon Cyber Gymnast" Alexis said summoning her cyber monster to the field (800/1800). "I now activate her special ability; I just discard one card from my hand and in return one monster you control is destroyed so say goodbye to that Cyber Harpie." Cyber Harpie screeched and was destroyed.

"Oh no, my Cyber Harpie" Mai called.

"And before I attack I activate my Deck Master Special ability" Alexis said. "Etoile Cyber increases the attack of my monsters by 600 whenever they make a direct attack." Cyber Gymnast got a major attack point boost (800+600=1400/1800). "Now my Gymnast attack." Cyber Gymnast charged at Mai and was about to deliver a devastating kick.

Mai then smirked "Sorry, but by destroying my Cyber Harpie you've activated a trap card."

"I what" Alexis gasped.

"Yes, the trap card Song of the Harpie" Mai said. The trap card depicted an older more mature Harpie sitting on a throne. "This card activates when a Harpie monster is destroyed; now I get to summon a new Harpie monster and it's my most powerful one; Harpie Queen." On the field, in a flash of light, appeared an older Harpie Lady only much larger with more wings, sharper talons and shining golden armor with long green hair (2800/2900).

"Oh no" Alexis gasped.

"And it's too late to call off your attack" Mai smirked. "Harpie Queen put that gymnast in her place." Harpie Queen slashed through Cyber Gymnast with ease.

Mai: 3600

Alexis: 300

"Because of your power boost you didn't outright lose but it doesn't matter because no card in your deck can save you now little girl" Mai smirked. Internally she thought 'There's no way these kids can save the world; not if this girl can't even challenge me.'

Alexis didn't see that move coming; she needed the right card. She had the cards to summon her monster and the card to get rid of that Harpie Queen, but she didn't have the monster necessary to activate her cards. Then Jaden's words came through her mind "Go get her Alexis" he had said.

Turning her gaze to him she saw him staring calmly with a smile on his face towards her. Even now that things looked bleak he still believed in her. He believed with 100% confidence that she would win.

'I cannot let him down; not when he has believed in me this much' Alexis thought. 'Come on deck… I need you to come through for me.' Alexis drew a card and when she saw it she grinned widely.

"What are you grinning about" Mai asked with a frown.

"I'm grinning because I just drew the card that will end this duel" Alexis said smirking.

"You're bluffing" Mai said automatically.

"Well why don't you see for yourself" Alexis said. "First I activate the ritual card Machine Angel Ritual. With it I send the White Knight Dragon card I just drew to the graveyard in order to summon a new monster."

"What, but White Knight Dragon has 3000 attack points, what could be more powerful than that" Mai demanded.

"I'll show you; rise Cyber Angel – Mahakala" Alexis called. From the ritual the most powerful Cyber Angel that Alexis owned that she won from her greatest opponent stood on the field (3000/3000).

Mai was gaping in awe "Is that really the legendary Cyber Angel?"

"Oh yes and you're about to feel her sting, but first I activate my spell card Seven Cyber Sacrifice" Alexis said. The spell card depicted a picture of Cyber Angel – Mahakala with her attack ready to launch. "When I have Cyber Angel – Mahakala on the field as well as less than 1000 life points I can destroy one monster on your field that has 2000 or more attack points."

"No way" Mai gasped.

"Yes way" Alexis smirked. "Mahakala, destroy that Harpie Queen." Mahakala launched a blast and destroyed Mai's Harpie Queen leaving Mai staring in shock at what just happened. "I'm not done yet; Mahakala can still attack and don't forget my Deck Master special ability. Every monster that attacks you directly gains 600 attack points." Mahakala glowed red as her attack power increased (3000+600=3600/3000). "Which gives her just enough attack points to wipe you out completely.

"No way" Mai gasped in shock.

"Cyber Angel – Mahakala, attack her life points directly with Cyber Spear attack." Mahakala placed all her spears together before launching a massive blast of red energy from her conjoined spears where it struck Mai directly.

Alexis: 300

Mai: 0

"The duel is over" the MC announced. "Alexis Rhodes is the winner."

"Alright Alexis" Jaden cheered running up to her. Alexis, after deactivating her duel disk, met him half way and jumped into his arms. Both laughed happily as Jaden swung her around in his arms.

"Even Mai lost" Serenity said in disbelief.

Joey said nothing even as his son stared in shock; taking his son's hand Joey walked out into the arena past Jaden and Alexis and up to Mai, who stood still as if catatonic. "Mai" he said softly.

She looked up and Joey was shocked when he saw actual tears in her eyes; he understood why after a moment. She wanted to originally compete for fun, but when her son wanted to come watch she wanted to win to show her son how great she was and she lost, to a girl almost 13 years younger than she was.

"You did your best Mai and you dueled amazingly" Joey told her honestly. "Didn't she Michael."

"Heck yeah" Michael said with a grin. "You did amazing out there mom, so what if you lost, you were still totally awesome out there."

Mai widened her eyes slightly at her son's words before smiling and wiping her eyes before picking Michael up and hugging him while Joey put an arm around her. This was Mai's lifeline; her two boys were her whole reason for living.

"Wait here" she said setting her son down before walking up to Alexis. "Alexis" she said to the young girl. Alexis pulled back from Jaden and faced Mai "I underestimate you; you're a great duelist and you gave me one hell of a match if I do say so myself."

"Thank you" Alexis said with a smile.

"And so I want you to have these" Mai said handing Alexis three cards. It was her Cyber Harpie, Song of the Harpie trap card and her Harpie Queen. "I think you'll find they'll make excellent additions to your deck."

Alexis took the cards and stared with awe before smiling again "Thank you Mai; it was an honor to duel you."

Mai nodded to her before turning to Jaden "You got a hell of a girl there boy; treat her right."

"I plan on it" Jaden said with a wide grin. With that Mai walked back over to her family and they stood there holding one another.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Ten)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

With the duel over the older generation was falling fast; of all of their duelists none of them had won at all and the only one of the younger generation to lose was against a transcendent being. Seeing Mai be defeated like that was completely shocking an eye opening. Perhaps Yugi and Pegasus were right.

"Attention duelists; the next two names will now be chosen" the MC called. The remaining duelists turned to the screen as it cycled through names once again. After a moment it stopped on two names.

Serenity Taylor vs. Chazz Princeton

"Looks like it's my turn now" Chazz said with his usual smirk.

"Alright Serenity; you got this" both Joey and Tristan encouraged her. Both of the duelists stepped out into the field and faced one another with Chazz brimming with arrogant confidence and Serenity showing as much confidence as she could, but still looking a little nervous.

"Duelists; select your Deck Master" the MC called.

Chazz smirked "I choose Ojama King." As Chazz said that a massive monster appeared behind him; the infamous Ojama King.

Serenity shuffled through her deck for a moment before picking a card "I select Goddess with the Third Eye." On the field behind Serenity a woman with a third eye on her forehead wearing a green robe appeared.

"Duelists let the match begin" the MC announced.

"I'll star this off" Chazz said drawing a card. "First I play this card in defense mode. And then I place one card facedown; your move."

Serenity drew a card and looked at her hand. "Alright; first I'm going to activate my Deck Master's special ability; Fusion Vision."

"Fusion Vision" Chazz said with a frown.

"With this ability I just discard one spell card from my hand" Serenity said discarding a single card. "And in return I can take fusion material monsters in my hand, send them to the graveyard, and in return I can summon a Fusion Monster."

"I need a card like that" Jaden murmured to himself quietly.

"So I send Marie the Fallen One and The Forgiving Maiden to my graveyard" Serenity began as the monster's briefly appeared on the field and vanished leaving a bright light. "And in return I summon St. Joan." On the field a woman in armor appeared with a sword in her hands (2800/2000). "Now go St. Joan attack his defense position monster."

St. Joan charged at Chazz' monster, which flipped up, revealing a chest with its lid open revealing an endless row of teeth. "You've revealed my Dark Mimic LV 1. When he's flipped up I get to draw one card." Chazz drew a card from his deck.

"One card or not your monster will still be destroyed" Serenity said.

"Not when I activate my facedown card Sakuretsu Armor" Chazz said revealing his facedown card. "With this trap card your St. Joan is destroyed." Sakuretsu Armor shot forward, enveloped St. Joan and destroyed her.

"My St. Joan" Serenity whispered in shock shielding her eyes from the blast. Once the blast ended she sighed "Alright; I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Chazz said drawing a card. "I activate the effect of Dark Mimic LV 1; during my standby phase I can sacrifice him and summon out Dark Mimic LV 3." His first Dark Mimic left the field and a slightly bigger one came into play (1000/1000). "Next I summon Armed Dragon LV 3 in defense mode." Armed Dragon LV 3 appeared on the field crouched in defense mode (1200/900). "Your move."

Serenity drew a card "I summon Lady Panther in attack mode." A panther monster appeared on the field wielding a staff and shield (1400/1300). "Lady Panther destroy his Dark Mimic." Lady Panther charged forward and slashed right though Chazz's monster. Thankfully it was in defense mode so Chazz lost no life points.

"You've now activated Dark Mimic's special ability" Chazz said. "When he's destroyed as a result of battle I get to draw two cards." Chazz drew his two cards.

"Very well; I end my turn" Serenity said.

"My move again" Chazz said drawing a card. "I activate the effect of Armed Dragon LV3. Sacrificing him I can now summon out Armed Dragon LV 5 to the field." Chazz's smaller dragon vanished from the field and in its place came Armed Dragon LV 5 (2400/1700). "I'm not done yet because I summon to the field Mystic Swordsman LV 4." On the field a mystical swordsmen glowing with power appeared on the field (1900/1600).

"Oh man, two monsters" Tea said nervously. "Serenity can't stand up to that."

"Mom" Thomas whispered quietly hugging his father's leg. Tristan patted his head softly also worried for Serenity.

"Armed Dragon attack her Lady Panther" Chazz ordered. His Armed Dragon shot a large blast of power that hit Lady Panther destroying it.

Chazz: 4000

Serenity: 3000

"And now that you're wide open Mystic Swordsman LV 4 attack her life points directly" Chazz ordered. Mystic Swordsman charged forward and slashed Serenity directly.

Chazz: 4000

Serenity: 1100

"Serenity" all her friends called worried.

Chazz was smirking 'This isn't much of a duel' he thought. "I guess I'll end my turn, but before that happens Armed Dragon's special ability activates. Since he destroyed a monster this turn I can send Armed Dragon LV 5 to the graveyard and in return I can summon Armed Dragon LV 7 to the field." Chazz's Armed Dragon LV 5 vanished and in return Armed Dragon LV 7 appeared on the field (2800/1000). "I place one card facedown end my turn I guess."

Serenity look at her hand; none of her cards could stand up to either of Chazz's monsters and he had been one upping her the entire time. 'He's good and I don't have the cards to defeat him.' Then she spotted one card in her hand 'Wait that would help, but I don't have the right card yet.'

"Come on, make your move already" Chazz said impatiently.

"I draw" Serenity said. "And now I activate Pot of Greed."

"Draw all the cards you want; it won't help you" Chazz said confidently.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light" Serenity shouted. Chazz widened his eyes as light swords flung down on the field and blocked his monsters.

'Swords of Revealing Light… she actually drew Swords of Revealing Light' Chazz thought in disbelief. 'Damn she got lucky.'

"And now your monster's can't attack for three whole turns" Serenity said to him.

Chazz merely shrugged "It doesn't matter; three whole turns will only delay the inevitable. So I guess I'll draw this card and end my turn."

'Alright I got three turns to get the right cards; I must get the right card in order to summon my most powerful monster' Serenity thought before drawing a card. It was Moisture Creature (2800/2900). 'This will help, but I still need another card. I guess I can build up my defenses.'

"I summon Shadow Tamer in defense mode" she said summoning another female monster into defense mode (800/700). "And then I activate the spell card Double Summon. I sacrifice 300 life points and then I can summon another monster to the field and the monster I choose to summon is Fire Princess in defense mode." Another female monster with fire dancing around her appeared on the field (1300/1500). "That ends my turn."

Chazz: 4000

Serenity: 800

"Not bad, but it won't help you" Chazz said drawing a card. "Two turns to go."

Serenity drew a card 'Still not the right one' she thought. Looking at her hand 'I can still build up my defenses.' "Next I'm going to summon Witch of the Black Forest to the field in defense–"

"I think not" Chazz interrupted her. "I activate the Deck Master special ability of Ojama King; I send the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard." Chazz plucked three cards and discarded them "And in return for three turns you can't use three of your monster slots for three turns."

"Aw man that is so unfair" Joey complained. He really didn't want to see his sister lose as well.

"And I think I'll make this duel even more imposing" Chazz smirked. "I switch my Mystic Swordsman to defense mode and then I activate my facedown card Level Up. This spell card sacrifices a level monster on my field and upgrades it so goodbye Armed Dragon LV 7 and say hello to Armed Dragon LV 10." Chazz's LV 7 dragon vanished and a much more massive dragon took its place with a mighty roar (3000/2000).

Serenity stared wide eyed at the massive monster that stood on Chazz's field 'Oh man.'

"And with that you have one more turn left" Chazz said.

Serenity drew a card with shaking hands and saw it was a trap card 'Still not the right card.' "I pass there's nothing I can do" she said.

Chazz then drew a card "Well I think I'll clear your field first; I activate the special ability of Armed Dragon LV 10. I send one card from my hand to the graveyard and in return all monsters on your field are destroyed."

"What" Serenity cried.

Chazz discarded his card "Armed Dragon destroy her monsters; Dragon Talon Terror." Armed Dragon roared and blue energy blades shot from its body and destroyed Serenity's monsters. "And with that I'll end my turn and your Swords of Revealing Light are gone as well." The swords vanished "Didn't get much out of your three turns did you."

Serenity looked down to her deck 'My last draw… I need the one card.' Shakingly Serenity reached for her deck before looking up to her family to see them all giving her supportive looks. Breathing in to steady her nerves Serenity drew her card and looked at it before gaining a smirk, which was unlike her.

"It's time to end this duel" she said making Chazz frown. "And it starts with this card; Shinato's Ark" she said revealing the card she just drew.

"Shinato's what" Chazz said shocked as Serenity activated the card.

"Shinato's Ark works by me sacrificing a monster" Serenity said. "And I sacrifice the Moisture Creature from my hand." Moisture Creature appeared on the field and flew into Shinato's Ark, where the massive ship then glowed "And with my offering being accepted I can now summon forth the most powerful Ritual Monster; Shinato, King of a Higher Plane."

With that a massive monster with six large wings and four arms appeared on the field and descended until touching the ground silently (3300/3000).

"And now I will end this duel" Serenity said.

Chazz grunted "Your Shinato might be powerful, but it won't be enough to defeat me."

"Actually it will especially when I equip it with my facedown card Fairy Meteor Crush" Serenity said revealing the facedown card she placed down at the beginning of the duel. "With this card equipped to Shinato every monster in defense mode he attacks you take damage equal to the difference in points."

"Oh no" Chazz gasped.

"Shinato, attack his Mystic Swordsman with Light Bombardment" Serenity ordered. Shinato formed a massive ball of light in his hands before launching it at Mystic Swordsman; it hit and destroyed the swordsman.

Chazz: 1600

Serenity: 800

Chazz grunted from the attack "I'm not beaten yet" he said.

"Actually you are" Serenity pointed out. "When Shinato destroys a monster in defense mode you take damage to equal to the destroyed monster's attack points."

"Oh… crap" was all Chazz could say as Shinato blasted him a second time.

Serenity: 800

Chazz: 0

"And the winner of the duel is Serenity Taylor" The MC announced.

"Alright Serenity" Triston and Joey all cheered as Triston hefted his son Thomas into the air and they both cheered and rushed out to Serenity. Chazz, surprisingly, accepted his defeat with quiet dignity and when Serenity declined to take his rarest card Chazz merely walked back to everyone else.

"Good duel out there Chazz" Jaden complimented.

"It was good, but not great; I need to get better" Chazz said before going to sit by himself. Everyone knew this was just Chazz coping with his loss trying to get over it and not lash out at anyone by accident.

It took both the MC and Kaiba to get everyone to shut up and focus for the next match. The computer had already flashed through names and the next two names appeared.

Jim Cook vs. Rebecca Kaiba

Kaiba smirked as he watched his sister-in-law step into the dueling arena; whatever deck this Jim used he knew it wouldn't be enough to beat her.

"Duelists select your Deck Masters" the MC called.

"I select Sample Fossil" Jim said as a large rock golem appeared behind him.

"And I select Guardian Angel Joan" Rebecca said as a woman with large angel wings appeared behind her.

"Alright duelists; begin" the MC announced.

"Alright ma'am, ladies first" Jim said.

"Why thank you" Rebecca smirked drawing a card. "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode" she said and a dragon appeared (1900/1600). "And with that I place two cards facedown. Your move."

"Thank you" Jim said drawing a card. "I summon Shell Knight in defense mode." On the field appeared a fossil-shaped knight monster (0/2000). "I now activate Shell Knight's special ability; when he's summoned you lose 500 life points automatically." Rebecca winced slightly as her points dropped.

Jim: 4000

Rebecca: 3500

"I then place one card face down; your move" Jim said.

Rebecca drew a card "I sacrifice Luster Dragon in order to summon Luster Dragon #2" she called. Her original luster dragon vanished and in its place was an emerald green dragon much larger than the other one (2400/1400). "Now my Luster Dragon destroy his Shell Knight."

"Not so fast; I activate my trap card Sakuretsu Armor" Jim said activating his trap card. "Now the monster that's attacking is destroyed."

"I think not; I respond with my spell card Stamping Destruction" Rebecca countered. "Since I control a dragon type monster I can target one spell or trap card you have on the field and negate its effect so Sakuretsu Armor is useless." Jim's trap card was destroyed "And now Luster Dragon can continue its attack; go."

Luster Dragon slashed down Shell Knight destroying it "Good move" Jim said recovering from the blast.

"It gets better; Stamping Destruction has another effect" Rebecca said. "Since I destroyed your trap card you take 500 points of damage." Jim winced as he got a backlash of attack.

Jim: 3500

Rebecca: 3500

"And with that I'll end my turn" Rebecca said.

'She's good' Jim thought drawing a card. 'She's tied the game up all over again, but I still got a few tricks left in this deck.' "I place one card in defense mode and that'll do for now."

"Then it's my move again" Rebecca said drawing a card. "I summon Injection Fairy Lily in attack mode." On the field a lily monster with a large syringe appeared on the field (400/1500). "And now Luster Dragon attack his defense monster." Luster Dragon launched its attack and it hit revealing Jim's monster.

Jim smirked "You just attacked my Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo and when he's flipped face-up all monsters on the field that are special-summoned are destroyed." Jim's monster was destroyed, but so was Rebecca's Luster Dragon.

"I still have a monster left" Rebecca said. "Go Injection Fairy Lily." Her remaining monster flew at Jim "And thanks to her ability I can give up 2000 life points to increase her attack points by 3000." So while Rebecca lost life points…

Jim: 3500

Rebecca: 1500

… Injection Fairy Lily gained attack points (400+3000=3400/1500). Her attack struck Jim head on sending him flying back from the sheer power of the attack.

Rebecca: 1500

Jim: 100

"Whoa, that attack almost singlehandedly took out Jim" Syrus said amazed.

"I know, but Jim still has a chance to come out on top" Jesse said. Jaden also agreed, but internally he was worried about Jim.

"And with that I'll end my turn; attack me if you can" Rebecca taunted.

"I'll do more than that" Jim said. "To make sure you can't pull anything like that again I activate my Deck Master special ability. It's called 'Fossil Digging' and Sample Fossil allows me to dig around in your graveyard for monsters that have been laid to rest."

"So you're stealing one of my monsters" Rebecca summarized.

"You could put it that way" Jim smirked. "I select Luster Dragon." Luster Dragon flew from Rebecca's graveyard and landed on Jim's field in defense mode looking like a fossil (1900/1600). "Next I summon to the field Flint Cragger in attack mode." On the field appeared a fossilized dragon shaped monster (800/1600). "Next I activate Flint Cragger's special ability; I send him to my graveyard and you take 500 points of damage." Flint Cragger vanished into Jim's graveyard and a beam shot out and struck Rebecca.

Rebecca: 1000

Jim: 100

"I'm not done yet because now I activate Fossil Fusion" Jim said. "With this I can take a monster in my graveyard and fuse it together with a monster in your graveyard to create a new one."

"You're using my own monsters against me" she grunted looking at her duel disk.

"I now fuse my Shell Knight with your Luster Dragon #2" Jim said as both monsters flew from their graveyards and merged together. "And now I summon to the field Mesozoic Fossil Knight – Skullknight." On the field a fossilized warrior with dinosaur bones made into armor wielding an ancient sword appeared on the field (2400/1100).

"Oh man, it looks like another victory for the younger generation" Joey said crossing his arms.

"I don't think so Wheeler" Kaiba said getting raised eyebrows from the others. "Just watch."

"Now Skullknight destroy her Injection Fairy Lily" Jim ordered. Skullknight attacked her monster.

"Not so fast; I activate the trap card Gravity Bind" Rebecca countered. Her trap card was revealed and Skullknight was stopped in its tracks. "With Gravity Bind all level 4 and higher monsters on your field can't attack."

Jim grunted as his Skullknight jumped back over to his field. "I guess I have no choice, but to end my turn."

"Then it's my move" Rebecca said drawing a card; despite everything that was happening she was still brimming with confidence. "You were a good challenge Jim, but just quite enough of a challenge."

"We both still have life points" Jim insisted. "And it's not over until one of us hit zero and I don't see you miraculously summoning a monster with more than 2400 attack points anytime soon."

"Did you forget that a Deck Master can be moved into play at any time during the duel" Rebecca smirked making Jim go wide eyed. "I now move Guardian Angel Joan into the field." Rebecca's Deck Master jumped into the field her wings spread wide (2800/2000).

"2800 attack points" Jim gasped. "It's over."

"That's right" Rebecca said. "Guardian Angel Joan; attack his Skullknight with Guardian Light." Guardian Angel Joan formed balls of light in her hands before launching it at Skullknight and obliterating it in a fabulous display of light.

Rebecca: 1000

Jim: 0

"And the winner of the duel is Rebecca Kaiba" the MC announced.

Jim sighed a bit before deactivating his duel disk before petting Shirley "Oh well girl, we did our best" he said. Shirley gave a soft growl in response.

Rebecca walked up to him "That was a great duel Jim; I had a lot of fun."

"I did too" Jim said shaking hands with the woman. "I suppose I should give you my card now."

"No, keep it" Rebecca said surprising Jim. "Your deck is unique Jim; it's a deck only you can use and I think it should stay that way."

"Thanks" he said with a smile before the two of them walked off to join their respective parties where they received various congrats despite the results.

"Alright we'll now proceed to the last match of the First round" the MC announced. "The last two duelists please step up; Marco and Aster Phoenix."

Both Marco and Aster stepped up and faced each other; Aster with determination and Marco with a blank look. Both of them activated their duel disks "Duelists select your Deck Master."

"Already got it" Aster smirked. "I select Destiny HERO – Plasma." Behind Aster a monster with very heightened demonic features appeared with a grunt.

"I select Vain Knight" Marco said in a blank tone. On the field behind him a knight in pure white armor with black tunic carrying a white circle shield with a matching white broadsword appeared.

"Alright the final duel of the first round will now begin" The MC called.

Aster spoke to Marco "I saw you with Reiner when we arrived… are you working together with him."

"What gave it away 'Destiny Duelist'" Marco asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Call it a hunch" Aster responded. "You realize of course that you're just a pawn in his game; the moment you outlive your usefulness he'll finish you."

"I already know that" Marco said simply making Aster wide eyed, as well as the rest minus Reiner, who merely smirked. "I do not care; my life has been filled with nothing, but lying in the darkness guarding the will of the Supreme King. I hated it and so when Master Reiner offered me the chance to escape I took it."

"A traitor because of hatred; that's the worst kind" Aster glared at him. "I'll be sure to crush you; destiny, and I, will make sure of it."

"You know nothing about destiny" Marco said with a small glare, which looked very fierce. "Now enough talk and let's get this over with."

"Fine, I'll start out" Aster said drawing a card. "I summon Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude in defense mode" Aster said as his destiny hero appeared on the field (1400/1600). "Now I activate the effect of Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude; I reveal the top card on my deck and if it's a spell card I discard it and then I get to use it my next turn." Aster drew a card "The card I drew is Destiny Draw so I send it to my graveyard and I get to activate it next turn. To end my turn I place one card facedown."

Marco drew a card "I summon White Defender in defense mode." On the field appeared a bulky, hulk-like monster with huge muscles; he was all white as well (200/2100). "Next I activate my Deck Master special ability; Vain Backup. When I summon a monster to the field and I have another monster that is the same name as the one I summoned I can summon it to the field. So I summon two more White Defender's, both in defense mode." Two more of the same monster's appeared on the field. "And with that I end my turn."

"Then it's my move again" Aster said drawing a card. "And since it's been a turn I get Destiny Draw back, which I will now activate. I discard Destiny HERO – Double Dude so now I can draw two cards." Aster drew his two cards and smirked "Next I summon Destiny HERO – Dunker in defense mode." Another Destiny HERO appeared on the field; this one was huge and muscular with a medusa-like face (1200/1700). "Next I activate the effect of Destiny HERO – Dunker. First I send Destiny HERO – Disk Commander to my graveyard and in return you lose 500 life points."

A backlash of energy hit Marco, but he didn't even flinch.

Aster: 4000

Marco: 3500

"To end my turn I place one more card face down" Aster said.

Marco merely drew a card "I activate Graceful Charity; now I draw three cards from my deck and discard two." Drawing his three cards Marco discarded two "Next I sacrifice one of my White Defender's in order to summon out White Sorceress." On the field appeared a female monster wearing all white with long white hair and blue eyes wielding a small staff (2100/1500). "Now my Deck Master special ability activates and I summon another White Sorceress." A second white Sorceress appeared on the field. "Now my White Sorceress attack; destroy his Destiny HERO – Dunker."

"I activate my trap card D – Counter" Aster said. "Since you targeted one of my Destiny HERO's your attacking monster is destroyed."

"You fool; White Sorceress is unaffected by trap cards on the turn she is summoned" Marco said.

"She what" Aster gasped as his trap card was destroyed. White Sorceress destroyed Aster's Destiny HERO – Dunker.

"Now my second White Sorceress attack his Diamond Dude with White Magic Attack" Marco ordered. His second White Sorceress attacked and destroyed Aster's other Destiny HERO. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Aster grunted and drew a card "I activate Doctor D. With this spell card I can remove from play Destiny HERO – Dunker and in return I can summon to the field Destiny HERO – Disk Commander." On the field Aster's Destiny HERO appeared (300/300). "And since Disk Commander was summoned from the graveyard I get to draw two cards."

"Draw all the cards you want; it won't make a difference" Marco said blandly.

"We'll see about that; I summon Destiny HERO – Doom Lord" Aster said summoning a new destiny hero to the field (600/800). "I now activate Doom Lord's special ability. I can remove from play one monster on your field for two turns and I choose one of your White Sorceress's. In exchange I can't attack this turn." One of Marco's White Sorceress's disappeared off the field. "With that I end my turn with one more facedown card."

"My turn" Marco said drawing a card. "I activate my facedown card White Returning." The spell card depicted a monster coming through a white portal. "I can activate this card whenever a monster of mine is removed from play. I can bring it back to the field." White Sorceress reappeared on the field.

Aster cursed "I just got rid of her."

"Apparently not" Marco said. "Next I activate Heavy Storm; say goodbye to your two facedown cards." Aster's D – Formation and Destiny Signal appeared briefly before vanishing. "Next I sacrifice my White Defender in order to summon White Machine." Marco's defender vanished and a machine monster with spiked shoulders and knees appeared on the field with glowing blue eyes (2100/2000). "And of course you know what that means."

Aster scowled "Your Deck Master ability."

"That's right; I now summon a second White Machine." A second White Machine appeared on the field. "And now White Machine attack his Disk Commander." White Machine launched a ray blast that hit Disk Commander destroying it.

Marco: 3500

Aster: 2200

"What; why did I lose life points" Aster shouted.

"When White Machine attacks I have the option of choosing whether or not to inflict piercing damage" Marco explained. "If I choose to do so my other monsters, other than White Machine, can't attack this turn. So now my other White Machine attacks; destroy his Doom Lord." His Second White Machine monster destroyed Aster's Doom Lord.

Marco: 3500

Aster: 900

"And with that I end my turn" Marco said.

"Oh man, I haven't seen Aster be dominated like this before" Syrus said nervously.

"This doesn't look good" Jesse agreed while the others looked just as nervous.

"My draw" Aster said drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Aster got his cards and smirked. "I move my Destiny HERO – Plasma into play." Destiny HERO – Plasma moved into the field with a grunt (1900/600).

"What's he planning" Alexis wondered. No one had an answer.

"Next I activate my Polymerization card; I fuse Destiny HERO – Plasma with the Destiny HERO – Dogma in my hand in order to summon my Destiny End Dragoon." On the field both monster's merged together and formed a new more massive and demonic looking monster (3000/3000). "Per dueling rules Destiny End Dragoon becomes my new Deck Master. Next I activate Destiny End Dragoon's special ability; I can destroy one of your monsters and in return you take damage equal to that monster's attack."

"Alright Aster" Jaden cheered. He knew Aster had a plan.

"So I choose to destroy one of your White Machine's" Aster said. "Go Dragoon" he shouted. Dragoon launched a blast that hit one of Marco's White Machine's and destroyed it giving Marco damage, but once more he didn't flinch.

Marco: 1400

Aster: 900

"Now normally Destiny End Dragoon wouldn't be able to attack when he activates his effect, but I now activate his Deck Master ability" Aster said. "It's called 'Destiny Luck End.' It works by me flipping a coin and if it lands on heads I get to attack with him and if it doesn't my monster is destroyed."

"What, but if he loses his monster he loses the duel regardless" Syrus cried.

"He's risking too much" Jim agreed.

"I guess that's how destiny works" Jesse said.

"Let's just hope that destiny is on our side" Jaden said.

Aster then flipped his coin and it flipped through the air before it landed in Aster's hand. Aster looked at the coin and smirked broadly "Well what do you know; destiny favors me with Heads." Aster got various cheers in response "Now Destiny End Dragoon attack his White Sorceress." Destiny End Dragoon roared and launched a blast of energy that destroyed Marco's White Sorceress.

Aster: 900

Marco: 500

"You claim I know nothing about destiny, but it appears that destiny is favoring me" Aster smirked.

Marco was silent until a massive dark aura surrounded him, similar to Jaden's aura, startling everyone. Marco looked up with a fierce glare "You know nothing about destiny; you know nothing about what it's like to have a destiny set out for you from the very beginning. You've made your own destiny, mine was forced upon me. And now I will break away from this wretched destiny and it'll start with your demise. My turn."

Marco drew a card and smirked maliciously "First I play monster reborn to bring back my White Defender." White Defender reappeared back on the field. "Next I activate the field spell card; Offering to the Stars." A bright white glow surrounded the two of them before a massive star symbol appeared below them. All of it was glowing white. "With this field spell card on the field no spell and trap cards can be activated by you for the first turn it's activated and when one of us lose all our life points our soul will be sent to the stars."

"Our souls" Aster gasped as did everyone else.

"Yes, and another ability this card has is that when I first activate it I get to draw one card" Marco's smirk widened. "And now I'll show the true power of Destiny" Marco drew his card and darkness flowed all around his hand.

"The Wicked Dreadroot" he shouted getting even more wide eyes. "I summon you by sacrificing my three monsters." Slamming the card on his duel disk it sparked erratically with black light before Marco's White Sorceress, White Machine and White Defender all vanished in a massive erupting flash of dark light. Then on the field a monster so massive it stood forty stories high appeared. It was all white in color with splotches of blue and had wings that were large and devil-like with its face looking just like Obelisk the Tormentor, but more demonic-like (4000/4000).

"Ho-Holy… that thing is huge" Jesse stuttered in fear. Everyone agreed with him silently.

"Now Wicked Dreadroot, show this fool how powerful you really are" Marco said viciously. "Show them your Divine Dividing ability." The Wicked Dreadroot's eyes glowed and Aster was shocked when he saw his monster crouch down weakly. He gasped when he saw his monster was now half as powerful (3000-1500=1500/3000-1500=1500)

"What the… my Dragoon" was all Aster could say in shock.

"This is The Wicked Dreadroot's special ability; Divine Dividing. All monsters on the field, other than him of course, lose half of their strength in both offense and defense" Marco said and took immense delight in Aster's shock and fear. "Now show this fool why you're called the 'wicked'. Dreadroot use Fist of Death."

Dreadroot's fist glowed with darkness before throwing a single punch that hit Destiny End Dragoon and destroyed him making Aster scream as the backlash hit him. Even if Dragoon wasn't his Deck Master Aster would've still lost.

Marco: 500

Aster: 0

"It seems destiny wasn't on your side" Marco smirked as the white star underneath them converged and surrounded a weakened Aster. "Now your soul will be sent to the stars." A white energy pillar shot up and enveloped Aster making him scream out before he fell back with his body disintegrating into white particles.

"Aster… no" Syrus whispered in shock as his body began to shake.

"He's gone" Jim said with a similar look.

"No… no" Jesse said in denial, but as much as he wanted to deny everything, he couldn't. Alexis said nothing, but hug Jaden tightly; Jaden hugged her back just as tightly. Chazz, still sitting by himself, merely clenched his fists tightly knowing there was nothing he could do.

"Supreme King" Marco said to Jaden. Jaden looked up and his eyes turned golden as he glared hatefully at Marco. "You have now seen the true power of one of the Wicked God's. You are in possession of one of the three. And once you are defeated… I will pry it from your cold, lifeless hand and present it to Master Reiner."

"If that's how it is… then I'd love to see you try it" Jaden said in a deadly voice flaring his darkness powers, which dwarfed Marco. "Remember who you're talking to… traitor." Marco merely turned and walked away.

They lost another friend… and how many more would they have to lose to end this.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	11. Chapter 11

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Eleven)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

With the duel between Marco and Aster over so was the dueling for today and the first match of the Finals of the Ultimate Tournament. Sixteen strong duelists came to compete and now only eight are left; the next day Kaiba informed them they would arrive on Kaiba Corp's. Private Dueling Island where the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and finals would be held. After that the winner would get the chance to duel Joey, Kaiba and Yugi and the duels would be broadcasted live.

Until then everyone was in their own private rooms trying to come to terms with what had happened. Jaden lied in his bed with Alexis huddled in his arms; Alexis looked up at Jaden and just by seeing his eyes she knew he was under so much stress.

Sitting up she said "Jaden, sit up for a moment" she said. Jaden looked at her confused, but did as she said. With that Alexis gut up and sat behind him "Okay, lay back down." Jaden did and felt his head rest upon soft skin. It was Alexis's legs.

Alexis smiled and began to softly stroke his scalp, hair and forehead. Jaden closed his eyes feeling her smooth fingers running through his hair. This was one of those moments where Jaden could just focus on Alexis and nothing else.

"You're so stressed" Alexis whispered quietly still stroking his scalp.

"I can't help it" Jaden whispered back. "These guys are unlike anything we've ever faced before and we've lost two of our friends to them."

"We can get them back; we just have to win" Alexis told him. "You've done it so many times in the past… and you'll do it again Jaden. Because I believe in you."

Jaden didn't say anything for a moment before he sat up, turned around and kissed Alexis hard. She gasped slightly at his rough kiss before melting into it and giving tiny moans as he pushed her down onto the bed and continued kissing her roughly.

After a moment Jaden pulled away leaving his fiancé a cute blushing mess "When this is all over I'm going to give you the wedding you've always dreamed of, then we'll build that house near the beach and raise a family there."

Alexis smiled at him with her eyes shining "Yes, I can't wait" she said. Jaden smiled and kissed her once more. That night Jaden was finally able to sleep peacefully nestled together with his one true love.

NEXT MORNING

Kaiba Island was as glorious as everything else Kaiba Corp had owned. It was an extravagant island resort with a beautiful beach and a large hotel up a hill that had a staircase and escalator that led from the beach to the hotel.

When everyone filed off of the ship Kaiba turned to everyone "The quarterfinals of the tournament will commence in two hours. In the meantime everyone head up to the hotel and check in, but be out at the dueling arena in the back in two hours. Mokuba, if you will."

"Got it Seto" Mokuba said. Mokuba Kaiba had definitely grown up from the little boy he used to be as he stood at a goo 5'10 with his long black hair tied in a small ponytail. He had already come to Kaiba Island a fay before the finals began to get everything set up and wait for everyone else to show up. He had already greeted Rebecca and was ecstatic when he found out she had won her first duel, but his happiness had diminished when he heard of the situation.

Either way he had a job to do "Duelists if you'll follow me" he called. Everyone followed Mokuba to the stairs and began riding up looking at the surrounding forest.

"Man Kaiba Corp. can afford anything can't they" Jaden whispered to Jesse.

"Just about anything" Jesse responded back. "I mean we're on a private island; you don't get much richer than that."

"True" Jaden conceded.

Once they got to the top they stared amazed at the massive hotel that was probably beyond five star. A fountain of the Blue Eyes White Dragon was out in the front along with a perfect walkway and patches of grass. The hotel was easily about 50 stories high with all of them looking to be presidential suite in status.

"This is the Kaiba Hotel" Mokuba told them. "Once you check in a key will be handed to you and that will be your room for the duration of your stay on Kaiba Island. You have two hours to get accustomed and set in for your room, afterwards, you will meet out back for the quarterfinals."

He received various confirmations from the duelists and so he released them to go check in.

SCENE CHANGE

Jaden and Alexis shared a room together even though it wasn't really allowed since they were both competitors, but once hearing they were engaged Kaiba allowed it. Their room was on the 20th floor and it gave them a perfect view of the island's beaches.

"It's beautiful" Alexis said staring out at the sparkling ocean.

Jaden smiled standing next to her. "But it's nowhere near as beautiful as you" he said kissing her softly.

Bushing she giggled "That was so cheesy."

"But sweet right" he asked.

"Definitely" she smiled before kissing him again. Pulling back after a minute Alexis rested on Jaden's shoulder "I want to spend our honeymoon at a place like this; away from dueling. Just to relax in a peaceful place with nothing, but a beach and endless ocean to relax on."

Jaden smiled and increased his grip on her "That would be lovely" he responded. A knock on the door got their attention; Alexis went over and answered the door revealing Jesse.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but there's a feast going on in the lobby" Jesse said. "You best get there before it's all gone."

"Okay we'll be right down" Alexis said closing the door. "Jaden" she called.

"I heard; I actually have to use the bathroom so I'll just meet you downstairs" Jaden said.

"Okay, just hurry before Syrus and Jesse eat everything" Alexis said.

"I'm more worried about Shirley eating everything" Jaden said making Alexis laugh as she left. Once the door shut Jaden hastily pulled out his laptop and opened it. Powering it on Jaden quickly began typing away on the internet before finding what he was looking for a few minutes later.

'Reservations for Atlantis Paradise Hotel – 7 day stay'

CONFIRM

Jaden clicked on confirm button and smiled before closing his laptop; after the quarterfinals he would surprise the hell out of Alexis with what he just planned. With that he ran downstairs to get something to eat before the dueling began.

Spending time mingling with each other and eating extravagant food before they knew it two hours had passed. "All remaining duelists come outside to the back" Kaiba's voice announced over the intercom. And so they did; all of the duelists went outside as did the others, but they stood off to the side while Kaiba addressed the eight remaining duelists.

"You eight who have made it to the quarterfinals will now be dueling one another again for a spot in the semi-finals" Kaiba told them. "Like the last round the names will be chosen completely at random and you will both stick with the Deck Master you had in the previous rounds as well. Any questions?" No one said a word "Good; then the Quarterfinals will now begin."

The screen was brought out and it began to shuffle through the names; everyone stared waiting with breaths held on who would be chosen to duel. Finally the screen stopped on two names.

Rebecca Kaiba vs. Serenity Taylor

The MC took his place "The duelists chosen for the first quarterfinal match; Rebecca Kaiba and Serenity Taylor. Duelists take your spots." Both duelists walked up and took their spots in a massive dueling arena, which was right outside the back of the hotel.

Both duelists then brought their Deck Master's out; Rebecca's Guardian Angel Joan and Serenity's Goddess with the Third Eye.

"Duelists; begin" the MC called stepping back.

"I didn't think I'd get to face you this early Serenity" Rebecca said with a smirk. "I'm not gonna make it easy though."

"I wouldn't expect you to" Serenity responded back.

"In that case I'll go first" Rebecca said drawing a card. "I activate Graceful Charity; so I draw three cards from my hand as long as I discard two." She drew her three cards and discarded two of her cards. Looking at her hand she made her move "I summon Fire Princess in attack mode." Her Fire Princess appeared on the field waiting for orders (1300/1500). "And then I place one card facedown, your move Serenity."

Serenity drew a card "I summon Asura Priest." On the field a Buddha looking monster with six arms appeared (1700/1200). "Next I activate the spell card Spring of Rebirth. Now every time a monster returns to my hand I gain 500 life points."

Rebecca was surprised "I didn't know you had the spirit monsters."

"They've been in my deck for a long time" Serenity told her. "Now I activate Goddess with the Third Eye's Deck Master Ability; go Fusion Vision."

"Oh no" Rebecca said nervously.

"I discard one spell card from my hand" she said discarding Monster Reincarnation. "And in return I get to fuse together monsters in my hand. I fuse together Queen's Double and Hibikime in order to summon Empress Judge." Both monsters appeared briefly on the field before fusing together to form a red haired monster dressed in black robes (2100/1700). "Now Empress Judge destroy her Fire Princess with Flame Judgement."

"Not so fast" Rebecca called as her monster was about to be attacked. "I activate my trap card Gravity Bind."

"Not that one" Serenity said.

"Yes that one" Rebecca smirked. "Now all level 4 monsters and above on your field can't attack." Empress Judge jumped back to Serenity's side of the field. And since your turn's about to end your Asura Priest goes back to your hand."

"That may be true, but because of Spring of Rebirth is on the field I gain 500 life points" Serenity said. Asura Priest returned to her hand and she gained life points.

Serenity: 4500

Rebecca: 4000

"My turn" Rebecca said drawing a card. "And due to the effect of Marie the Fallen one in my graveyard I gain 200 life points during each standby phase."

Serenity: 4500

Rebecca: 4200

"And now my Fire Princess activates her special ability" Rebecca said. "Every time I gain life points you lose 500 life points." Serenity winced as Fire Princess struck.

Rebecca: 4200

Serenity: 4000

"This is gonna take a while" Syrus said.

"Why do you say that" Jesse asked.

"Because both of them use Life Point decks" Alexis answered. "Both of them can gain life points or lose life points just like that."

"I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode" Rebecca said summoning her dragon (1900/1600). "That's it for now."

"My move" Serenity said drawing a card. "I play the spell card Double Summon" she said playing the spell card. "Now at any time during my turn I can give up 300 life points to summon another monster to the field. Now I'm going to play the spell card De-Fusion to split Empress Judge back into two monsters." Queen's Double (350/300) and Hibikime (1450/1000) appeared on the field. "Now I attack you with Queen's Double."

"What" Rebecca called. "My monster is almost 1000 point stronger."

"True, but Queen's Double can attack you directly" Serenity pointed out. Queen's Double charged past her monsters and struck her directly.

Serenity: 4000

Rebecca: 3950

"Next I'm going to sacrifice both Queen's Double and Hibikime in order to summon Yamata Dragon" Serenity said. Both of her monsters vanished and on the field a massive eight-headed dragon appeared on the field (2600/3100).

"Why would you waste time summoning a monster that powerful if it's going to just return to your hand at the end of your turn" Rebecca demanded.

"You're about to find out" Serenity said. "I activate the effects of my Double Summon. I give up 300 life points."

Rebecca: 3950

Serenity: 3700

"And in return I can summon another monster" Serenity said. "I remove from play my Asura Priest and in return I summon Izanagi." On the field a white haired monster holding a spear appeared on the field (2200/1000). "And thanks to Izanagi's special ability; my spirit monsters don't have to return to my hand at the end of my turn."

Rebecca tried to goad Serenity "Big deal; you've got all these powerful monster's, but you can't attack because of my Gravity Bind."

"That'll be dealt with soon enough" Serenity said confidently. "With that I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move" Rebecca said drawing a card. "Remember my Marie the Fallen one is still in my graveyard so I gain 200 life points."

Rebecca: 4150

Serenity: 3700

"And now you lost 500 life points thanks to Fire Princess" Rebecca said.

"Not this time" Serenity said. "I activate my facedown card Forbidden Chalice and I equip it to your Fire Princess." The chalice equipped itself to Fire Princess and she got stronger (1300+400=1700/1500).

"What, why would you do that; my monster is stronger now" Rebecca said confused.

"Forbidden Chalice may increase your monster's attack points, but it also negates her effect for the entire turn so my life points remain untouched" Serenity said.

Rebecca grit her teeth "Despite that I'm still gonna beat you; I sacrifice Luster Dragon in order to summon Luster Dragon #2." On the field her original Luster Dragon vanished and her Luster Dragon #2 took its place (2400/1400). "Now Luster Dragon attack her Izanagi." Luster Dragon launched emerald colored flames at Izanagi.

"I activate my other facedown card Forbidden Lance" Serenity said. A lance then appeared in Luster Dragon # 2's claw. "This card decreases your monster's attack points by 800."

"800" Rebecca gasped as her monster lost points (2400-800=1600/1400).

"And since my Izanagi is stronger he'll destroy your Luster Dragon; attack Izanagi" Serenity ordered. Izanagi twirled his spear before launching a ray of white energy at Luster Dragon # 2 and destroyed it.

Serenity: 3700

Rebecca: 3550

Rebecca grunted from the backlash "Fine I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move again" Serenity drew one card. She smirked softly "Like I said earlier sooner or later I would get by you; I activate Mystical Space Typhoon. Your Gravity Bind is destroyed." Gravity Bind shattered and was gone. "Next I summon to the field Yaksha." On the field appeared another spirit monster with a demonic face, horns and wielding two swords (1900/1500). "And now I activate the special ability of Yaksha. I can send one spell or trap card you have out on the field so I send our facedown card back to your hand."

Rebecca grit her teeth as her monster was sent back to her hand.

"And now your monsters are wide open; Yamata Dragon attack her Fire Princess." Yamata Dragon's eight heads powered up before all of them launched simultaneous attacks and destroyed Fire Princess.

Serenity: 3700

Rebecca: 2250

"Now Izanagi attack her directly" Serenity ordered. Izanagi twirled his spear once more and launched his attack and it enveloped Rebecca making her cry out slightly.

Serenity: 3700

Rebecca: 50

"And now Yaksha, end it" Serenity said. Yaksha charged forward and slashed Rebecca twice and that was all she wrote.

Serenity: 3700

Rebecca: 0

"The duel is over: Serenity Taylor is the winner" The MC announced.

While Joey and Tristan were cheering loudly the younger generation was speechless. "Whoa, she completely demolished Rebecca" Jim said shocked.

"No kidding; who would've thought those spirit monsters would be so powerful" Jesse agreed. "And to think one of us has to face her in the semi-finals."

Both Serenity and Rebecca shook hands with each other with Rebecca handing over her Guardian Angel Joan to Serenity. After that Rebecca went and stood next to Mokuba, who proudly kissed her and gave her congratulations for a good duel. Even Kaiba gave her a small nod for he knew what it was like to face those spirit monsters. They were not easy to defeat.

"Alright the next duelists will now be decided" the MC called. The screen began flashing through names once more before stopping with a loud beep.

Syrus Truesdale vs. Jesse Anderson

Jesse and Syrus turned and faced one another looking surprised before Jesse grinned "Alright Sy; it looks like it's our turn."

"Y-Yeah" Syrus said nervously as both of them walked out to the field and faced each other. Both of them shuffled each other's decks before handing them back and taking their spots and activating their duel disks. "Aright; come out Dragonroid." Dragonroid appeared behind Syrus.

"Rise, Rainbow Zombie" Jesse said and his Rainbow Zombie appeared behind him.

"Alright duelists you may begin when ready" the MC called.

"Sy, even though we're friends I don't want you holding back at all buddy" Jesse called to him. "Do your absolute best."

"I'm sure gonna try" Syrus said before drawing a card. "I summon Cyber Ouroboros in defense mode." A cyber-like snake with a barbed harpoon stinger appeared on the field (100/600). "Next I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. "I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger in attack mode." On the field Jesse's tiger appeared ready for battle (1600/1000). "Next I place one card facedown and activate Crystal Tree." On the field a small tree with a crystal at its base appeared. "You'll see what it does later, but for now I think I'll attack with Topaz Tiger. Show Syrus what we can do."

Topaz Tiger charged at Cyber Ouroboros and destroyed it, but Syrus took no damage. "Not so fast Jesse; I activate a trap card" Syrus called. "Go Byroad Technology. When a monster on my side of the field is destroyed I can special summon another monster to take his place. So I summon Cyber Dragon." Syrus' Cyber Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (2100/1600).

"Nice move Syrus" Jesse said. "But I got a trap card of my own; go Triggered Summon. This trap card activates when you special summon a monster; no we both get to take one level 4 or lower monster from our hand and summon it to the field. So say hello to my Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise." Jesse summoned his emerald tortoise in defense mode (600/2000).

"Alright then I choose to summon Proto-Cyber Dragon" Syrus said summoning, what looked like, a prototype of the original Cyber Dragon to the field (1100/600). Since Jesse's turn was over Syrus made his move "My move now" he drew a card. "I now activate Polymerization to fuse together Cyber Dragon and Proto-Cyber Dragon in order to summon Cyber Twin Dragon." Both of Syrus' dragons fused together and formed a massive Cyber Dragon with two heads (2800/2100). "Now Cyber Twin Dragon attack his Topaz Tiger with Double Strident." Cyber Twin Dragon's heads glowed before they launched a massive blast that enveloped Topaz Tiger.

Jesse grunted from the backlash of the attack.

Syrus: 4000

Jesse: 2800

"And don't forget Jesse; Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice" Syrus reminded him. Cyber Twin Dragon attacked again and Jesse's Emerald Tortoise was destroyed, but both Crystal Beasts were placed in his spell/trap card zone. Then Syrus noticed two branches on Jesse's Crystal Tree were glowing with a crystal on them. "What is that on your tree?"

"They're Crystal Counters" Jesse said. "Every time a Crystal Beast is sent to my spell and trap card zone my Crystal Tree gains a counter on it."

Syrus frowned 'That ability might be troublesome later on.' "Fine then, I end my turn."

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. "I now activate the second effect of my Crystal Tree; I send it to the graveyard." The Crystal Tree vanished. "And in return I can take a crystal beast from my deck for the same amount of crystal counters I had on the tree. Since I had two I can take two crystal beasts from my deck and place them in my spell/trap card zone."

"Oh man" Syrus said quietly.

"I choose Sapphire Pegasus and Amethyst Cat" Jesse said. An amethyst stone and a sapphire stone appeared on the field next to the topaz and emerald stones. "Next I summon Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth in defense mode" Jesse said summoning his faithful friend (1700/1600). "I'm far from done yet as now I activate Crystal Beacon. With this I can special summon a Crystal Beast monster from my deck to the field and I choose my good friend Ruby Carbuncle." Ruby Carbuncle appeared on the field in defense mode (300/300). "And of course you know Ruby Carbuncle's effect right Syrus?"

"Yeah, I remember" Syrus responded.

"Then I activate that effect; with it I can summon as many Crystal Beast Monster's as possible from my spell/trap card zone to my field" Jesse said. From his spell and trap card zone Emerald Tortoise (600/2000), Amethyst Cat (1200/400) and Sapphire Pegasus appeared on the field (1800/1200). "And since Sapphire Pegasus was summoned I can activate his special ability as well. I can take one Crystal Beast from my deck and put in my spell/trap card zone. And I choose Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle." A cobalt stone appeared on the field next to the topaz stone."

"Oh man, that makes all seven" Syrus said nervously.

"I end my turn; you're move Syrus" Jesse said.

"Man, that Jesse is good" Joey said very impressed. "He got all the monsters he wanted on his field in one turn."

"And because he did that he'll be summoning his Rainbow Dragon next turn" Kaiba said.

Syrus drew a card 'Oh man, I need a good card' Syrus thought. Looking at his card he smirked "Okay Jesse try this on for size; I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support. With this I can use monsters from my graveyard and deck to summon a fusion monster."

Jesse: 2800

Syrus: 2000

"It may cost half of my life points" Syrus continued. "But it will be well worth it; I now fuse my three Cyber Dragon's in order to summon Cyber End Dragon." On the field a massive three headed cybernetic dragon appeared on the field with a large roar (4000/2800).

"Oh man, not that one" Jesse said nervously.

"Yes and now it's over Jesse; Cyber End Dragon deals piercing damage to defense position monsters so it's over" Syrus said. "Cyber End Dragon attack his Ruby Carbuncle with Super Strident Blast." Cyber End Dragon roared and together its three heads launched a large beam.

"Not so fast Syrus; I activate Amber Mammoth's special ability" Jesse shouted. "When a monster of yours attacks one of mine I can switch the attack to Amber Mammoth instead." The attack then diverted to Amber Mammoth and destroyed it in a mighty explosion.

Syrus: 2000

Jesse: 400

An amber stone appeared in Jesse's spell and trap card zone "All in all it may cost me a lot of life points, but not the duel" Jesse said.

"Nice save Jesse, but it won't help you a second time" Syrus said. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. "Alright; time to bring out my ultimate monster. Since all seven Crystal Beasts are on my field I summon Rainbow Dragon" Jesse said. In a flash of illuminating rainbow light Jesse's Rainbow Dragon appeared on the field (4000/0).

"Two dragons… both with the exact same attack" Yugi murmured looking at both dragons. "It's a stalemate."

"Well Syrus it's going to cost me my Rainbow Dragon, but this duel is over" Jesse said. "I switch Sapphire Pegasus and Amethyst Cat to attack mode." Both monsters switched to attack mode "And now Rainbow Dragon attack his Cyber End Dragon."

"Nice move" Chazz said. "Jesse plans on taking out Cyber End Dragon with his Rainbow Dragon; it may cost him his dragon, but it'll leave Syrus open for an attack from Jesse's other monsters."

Syrus watched Rainbow Dragon about to attack "Not so fast Jesse; I reveal my facedown card. De-Fusion."

"Ah no way" Jesse called.

"Yes and now my Cyber End Dragon becomes the three original Cyber Dragons used to summon it" Syrus said. Cyber End Dragon disappeared and the three Cyber Dragon's reformed on the field (2100/1600). Since Rainbow Dragon's original target vanished the attack was canceled "Sorry Jesse, better luck next time."

Jesse grunted "Alright then, I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Syrus said. He drew a card and looked at his hand. "Alright Jesse; I'd love to see you stop this. I activate Photon Generator Unit. What this card does is that it allows me to tribute two of my Cyber Dragons and in return I can summon Cyber Laser Dragon."

On the field two of Syrus' Cyber Dragon's vanished and in return a shinier dragon with spikes on its body and a massive laser beam on its tail appeared on the field (2400/1800).

"I know what's coming next" Jaden said having faced this card before in the past.

"I now activate the effect of Cyber Laser Dragon" Syrus called. "One monster on your side of the field with attack or defense points higher than the attack of this monster is destroyed."

"What" Jesse said in shock.

"Say goodbye to Rainbow Dragon" Syrus said victoriously. Cyber Laser Dragon launched a beam from its tail and it struck Rainbow Dragon making the monster roar before it was destroyed in a massive explosion.

Jesse stared in shock "My Rainbow Dragon…" was all he could say.

"Is destroyed" Syrus finished for him. "And since your Crystal Beasts are left wide open this duel is mine. Cyber Laser Dragon attack his Amethyst Cat with Strident Laser Beam." Cyber Laser Dragon launched a large beam from its tail that went right for Amethyst Cat.

Jesse reacted just in time "Go trap card; Crystal Fortress" Jesse cried. His trap card was revealed just in time and a fortress of crystals saved his cat from destruction.

"What" Syrus said in shock.

"This trap card works when you attack me" Jesse explained. "If your monster has equal or less attack points times 1000 for the number of Crystal Beasts I control then they cannot attack this turn. Since I currently control 3 crystal beasts any monster 3000 or less attack points cannot attack this turn."

"Another save" Jim said amazed. "These two are amazing."

"No kidding" Alexis agreed. "Syrus and Jesse are really giving it their all."

Jaden didn't know who to root for so he settled on cheering for them both silently.

"Well played Jesse" Syrus complimented "I guess I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed." Drawing his two cards Jesse widened his eyes. "Alright Syrus; here comes one of my new cards. I sacrifice Ruby Carbuncle, Amethyst Cat and Sapphire Pegasus in order to summon out the mighty Rainbow Knight." On the field Jesse's new monster appeared decked out in white armor with gem studs wielding a diamond sword (2800/2600).

"Whoa, that's a new one" Syrus said surprised.

"Oh yeah and I'm about to activate his special ability" Jesse said. "By banishing two crystal beasts' cards in my spell/trap card zone I can return the same amount of monsters on your field to your deck."

"What, then that means…" Syrus said in shock.

"That's right" Jesse said. "I banish Emerald Tortoise and Cobalt Eagle and now your Cyber Dragon and your Cyber Laser Dragon go back to your deck." Both of Syrus' monsters vanished in a flurry of light and shot back into his deck. "Now you're wide open; Rainbow Knight finish this duel." Rainbow Knight charged at Syrus.

"Not quite Jesse; I activate Negate Attack" Syrus said. Rainbow Knight's attack was absorbed and Syrus took no damage.

'Another counter; man Syrus is good' Jesse thought. "Alright Syrus to end my turn I place one card facedown."

"My move again" Syrus said drawing a card. "I activate a card you're familiar with; go Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards." Syrus drew his two cards and looked at his hand. Then his eyes widened 'I've always wanted to use this monster, but I never had the chance… I guess now's the chance.' "Alright Jesse I plan on ending this duel now."

"We'll see Syrus, we both have monsters and life points left" Jesse said.

"Not after this; first I play Fusion Recovery" Syrus said. "This lets me take Polymerization and a monster back from my graveyard." Syrus took Polymerization and Proto-Cyber Dragon. "Next I move Dragonroid into play." Syrus' deck master jumped into the field with a roar (2900/1000).

"Just what are you planning" Jesse asked.

"You're about to find out; say hello to the best 'Roid' monster my deck can produce as well as my favorite one" Syrus said. "I now activate Polymerization and fuse Dragonroid with my Steamroid, Gyroid, Submarineroid, and my Drillroid in order to summon out Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine."

All five of Syrus' monsters fused together and what came out of it was a colossal machine monster with red armor and multiple battle enhancements appeared on the field (4000/4000).

Jesse, and others, gasped "So this is your ace in the whole."

"Oh yeah" Syrus said. "I've had this monster for a long time; it was actually the very first card I got. It was given to me by my Grandfather and it's what inspired me to make a 'Roid' deck in the first place. This is the first time I've been able to summon him to the field."

"I guess I get to be his first opponent" Jesse said nervously.

"You got that right" Syrus smirked. "And his first victory; Barbaroid attack his Rainbow Knight with Ultimate Beam attack." Barbaroid raised its cannons and launched a massive beam at Jesse.

"I had a feeling you'd summon out a monster in advance so I activate my facedown card; Block Attack" Jesse called out. "This card switches Rainbow Knight into defense mode."

"That won't help you" Syrus said. "When Barbaroid destroys a monster by battle you take 1000 points of damage."

Jesse grunted "Then in that case I activate Rainbow Zombie's Deck Master Ability. By removing Amethyst Cat in my graveyard from play my life points are spared." Amethyst Cat appeared and took the backlash of the attack.

"Nice save Jesse, but Barbaroid can attack twice" Syrus said making Jesse wide eyed as Barbaroid attacked again.

"I activate Rainbow Zombie's special ability again" Jesse said quickly. "I remove Sapphire Pegasus from play to negate all damage." The damage was negated once more and Jesse was spared. Jesse breathed a sigh of relief as he was saved.

"Nice move Jesse, but you only have one Crystal Beast card left in your graveyard" Syrus said. "You won't be able to stop Barbaroid next turn."

'He's right' Jesse thought. 'There ain't no way I can defend from that beast a second time; there's only one card left in my deck that can save me now, but I need to draw the right card to use it.' Jesse looked at his deck 'I have to draw it' he thought placing his fingers on his card 'Please' he thought before drawing the card.

Jesse looked at the card he drew and let out a loud whoop of joy and a laugh "Alright it's just the card I needed."

"What card" Syrus inquired frowning.

"The card to end this" Jesse said. "But first in order to use it I have to activate Rainbow Zombie's second Deck Master Ability."

"Second" Syrus said shocked. "It has two abilities."

"Oh yes" Jesse smirked. "I sacrifice half of my life points and in exchange Rainbow Zombie brings a monster back from my grave; in exchange I can't normal summon or tribute summon the turn I activate it. So first I sacrifice half of my life points in order to bring back Rainbow Knight." A flash of rainbow light appeared on the field and there stood Rainbow Knight (2800/2600).

Syrus: 2000

Jesse: 200

"I'm not done yet; I activate Rainbow Zombie's Deck Master Ability again to bring back my most powerful beast" Jesse shouted. "Come forth mighty Rainbow Dragon." From the rainbow light Rainbow Dragon re-emerged onto the field.

Syrus: 2000

Jesse: 100

"Barbaroid and Rainbow Dragon are equal in attack" Mai commented. "All Jesse has to do is attack and they'll destroy each other."

"And since Syrus fused his Deck Master to create Barbaroid he'll lose the duel" Serenity said.

"I don't think he's going to do that" Joey said.

"Why not" both Mai and Serenity asked.

"Because if he was he wouldn't have been so happy to have drawn that card he drew earlier" Joey said. "He's going to do something else; I guarantee it."

It turns out Joey was right "Alright Syrus; you've dueled a good duel and it's been one of the best duels I've ever had, but now I'm ending it" Jesse said with a few tears coming to his eyes. "I activate the spell card Fusion Gem." The spell card depicted a ruby crystal, sapphire crystal and emerald crystal all swirling around each other.

"Fusion Gem; I've never heard of it" Syrus admitted.

"What it does is allow me to fuse together Rainbow Knight and Rainbow Dragon" Jesse said getting gasps form Syrus and his friends. Both Rainbow Dragon and Rainbow Knight fused together and formed an even more massive monster. It was Rainbow Knight riding atop Rainbow Dragon with the diamond sword held in hand. "Say hello to the one and only Rainbow Rider" Jesse said (5000/5000).

"Oh man those attack points are off the charts" Syrus said shocked.

"And Rainbow Rider has a special ability; for every Crystal Beast in my spell/trap card zone this card gains 800 attack points" Jesse said making Syrus gasp. "And I count two of them so Rainbow Rider gains 1600 attack points." Rainbow Rider glowed with energy as its attack points rose (5000+1600=6600/5000).

"Then it's over" Syrus whispered head bowed as a few tears slipped from his eyes. He fought a long hard duel and came so close so it's understandable he'd feel emotional. Looking up Syrus blinked the tears from his eyes "Jesse… go for it."

Jesse smiled as one more tear slipped from his eye "Rainbow Rider use Rainbow Nova" he shouted. Rainbow Rider glowed with rainbow energy before the knight atop it launched a rainbow beam from his sword as the dragon launched a beam from its mouth. Both attacks combined into one massive one that struck Barbaroid and blew it away in a fabulous display of power.

Jesse: 100

Syrus: 0

"The duel is over; Jesse Anderson is the winner and will proceed to the Semi-Finals" the MC announced. Everyone exploded into massive cheers.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	12. Chapter 12

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Twelve)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Everyone could not stop cheering and clapping as they had just witnessed one of the most amazing duels ever. Even Kaiba was clapping with a small smile on his face as he saw, in his definition, true dueling out there.

Jesse walked up to Syrus "That was a great duel Syrus" Jesse said holding his hand.

Syrus smiled wiping his eyes slightly "Yeah, it was Jesse" he said shaking hands with Jesse. Everyone cheered again as they shook hands in a display of true sportsmanship. Syrus then pulled out his rarest card; Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine. "Here Jesse, my rarest card."

Jesse shook his head "Na, Syrus, you keep it" he said surprising the blue haired boy. "That card is special to you; more special than anything and I couldn't make you part with it. Besides I don't have the deck to use that card and it would work best with its original owner."

Syrus smiled "Thanks Jesse" he said as the two of them walked back and were happily greeted by their friends. Both of them were congratulated at for giving an amazing duel.

Ten minutes later is when everyone managed to calm down enough for the MC to announce "Alright we'll now pick the names for the next duel." The screen began to cycle through names as everyone looked to see who would duel next. The cycling finally stopped.

Alexis Rhodes vs. Reiner

And like that all of the cheerfulness vanished and was replaced by a cold feeling of nervousness and fear. Reiner was smirking as he saw who his opponent would be while Alexis felt a flash of nervousness before swallowing it. She began to head out to the field when Jaden grabbed her arm "Jaden" she said surprised.

She was shocked when she saw the fear in his eyes "Alexis… please be careful" he whispered pleadingly. To hear him pleading made Alexis know Jaden was very scared for her.

"I'll be fine" she said in the most confident voice she could make. With that she walked out onto the field and faced Reiner who was still smirking at her. Both of them activated their duel disks and brought out their Deck Masters. Alexis with her Etoile Cyber and Reiner with his White Devil.

"Duelists, begin" the MC announced.

"Oh this is too sweet" Reiner smirked. "I hope to destroy the Supreme King and behold I get to destroy his queen. Oh this is too precious."

"You don't scare me" Alexis said bravely. "You're just like every other pathetic villain we've faced. Infected with some evil or some poor child with parent issues; we defeat them all just the same."

"Such a mouth on you little girl" Reiner said his smirk widening. "I think it's high time someone taught you some manners." Reiner drew one card from his deck. "And I'll start by activating Offering to the Stars." The field spell card that Marco used appeared on the field and surrounded them. "Now not only can you not activate any spell or trap cards until your second turn, but all of my 'White' monsters gain 500 attack points."

Alexis grunted as she heard that 'That's gonna be a problem.'

"Next I summon to the field White Villain – The Thief" Reiner said. On the field appeared a man in a white outfit with a white mask over his face like a thief while holding a gun in his hand (1600/1500). "And when White Villain – The Thief is summoned to the field I'm allowed to take one spell card from my deck and add it to my hand." Reiner took a card from his deck, reshuffled and put his card in his hand. "And with that I place two cards facedown and end my turn. Oh and don't forget his attack points increase thanks to Offering to the Stars." Reiner's monster's attack power increased (1600+500=2100/1500)

"My move now" Alexis said drawing a card. "And I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode" she said summoning her monster to the field (1000/800). "And since the monster you control on the field is stronger than mine I can attack you directly. Go Cyber Tutu, attack his life points directly." Cyber Tutu shot forward past the thief and kicked Reiner in the chest. He didn't so much as wince.

Alexis: 4000

Reiner: 3000

Alexis frowned at him 'Not even a wince' she thought. "And to end my turn I place one card facedown."

"Oh how very predictable" Reiner said with a mocking laugh making Alexis scowl. "Oh well I suppose I will humor you." Reiner drew a card "And now I activate the effect of my facedown card." A spell card revealed itself "It's called White Revenge; when a monster attacks my life points directly one of my monsters can attack your life points directly.

"Oh no" Alexis gasped as White Villain – The Thief shot forward and shot Alexis right in the torso making her give a small cry of pain.

Reiner: 3000

Alexis: 1900

"Alexis" Jaden shouted.

"I'm fine" she said with a grunt before standing up.

"Oh so you can still stand" Reiner said in a mock concerned voice. "Maybe I should make it so you can never stand again; Thief attack her little tutu girl." The Thief aimed his gun and shot at Alexis.

"Not so fast; I reveal my spell card Prima Light" Alexis said revealing her card. "With it I can send Cyber Tutu to the graveyard and in return I can summon Cyber Prima." Cyber Tutu vanished and in her place came Cyber Prima (2300/1600). "And it's too late to call of your attack; Cyber Prima destroy his thief."

Cyber Prima shot forward at a fast speed and punched The Thief destroying him in a blast.

Reiner: 2800

Alexis: 1900

"And I'm not done yet; since one turn has passed spell and trap cards can be used on this field spell of yours" Alexis said. "Cyber Prima's special ability allows her to destroy all face-up spell cards on the field."

"Is that what you think" Reiner smirked at her. "I'll prove you wrong. I activate the special ability of The Thief. When he's destroyed I can summon a new monster to take his place."

"No way" Alexis said.

"Yes and I summon White Villain – The Arsonist" Reiner said and a new monster appeared. This one was also wearing all white and was holding two fireballs in his hand (1900/1800).

"You may have summoned a new monster, but it means nothing; Cyber Prima can still destroy your spell card" Alexis said.

"Not with The Arsonist on the field" Reiner said smugly. "His special ability negates all monster effects on the turn he's summoned so your Cyber Prima won't be destroying anything." Alexis grunted in anger when Offering to the Stars remained on the field. "Oh well; I guess you'll stick around for a little while longer, but soon you'll be destroyed."

"Don't count on it" Alexis grunted drawing a card. "I activate White Knight Summoning; with this spell card I can summon out a monster with 'White Knight' in its name ignoring all summoning conditions as long as I give up life points equal to half the total attack points of the monster I want to summon."

Reiner's lip twitched slightly and his eyes narrowed.

"So I sacrifice 1500 life points" Alexis began wincing slightly as her points dropped.

Reiner: 2800

Alexis: 400

"And in return I now summon White Knight Dragon" Alexis said summoning out her powerful ice dragon (3000/2500). "Next I place one card facedown and I equip White Knight Dragon with White Veil." A white glow surrounded her White Knight Dragon.

"She still has that card" Chazz said surprised.

"With White Veil all spell and trap cards on your side of the field are negated whenever White Knight Dragon attacks and since they're negated and not destroyed there's nothing you can do" Alexis smirked making Reiner's scowl increase slightly. "Now your Arsonist attack points stay at their original 1900 so White Knight Dragon attack."

"You think you have it all figured out; let me prove you wrong by activating my trap card" Reiner called. "Go White Pitfall." The trap card depicted a monster falling into a white hole "This trap activates when you call an attack; now your monster is destroyed. And thanks to White Veil you take damage equal to monster you equipped it with."

"That would normally be true if I didn't already prepare for that" Alexis smirked making Reiner frown. "I activate White Knight Fort" she said revealing her spell card. "With this spell card neither of us can activate trap cards during our opponent's turn so your trap card is negated and destroyed." Reiner growled as his trap card was destroyed "And now White Knight Dragon can continue its attack."

White Knight Dragon launched a large ice beam and it hit The Arsonist freezing it solid and dousing its fire.

Reiner: 1700

Alexis: 400

"And with that I place three cards facedown and end my turn" Alexis said.

"My turn" Reiner said.

"And now I activate Mirage of Nightmare" Alexis said. "Now I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand." She drew three cards.

"Fine, but don't forget to discard on your next turn" Reiner said.

"I won't have to because I activate my other facedown card Emergency Previsions" Alexis said revealing her other card. "Now I destroy Mirage of Nightmares and gain 1000 life points." Both cards vanished and Alexis' points rose.

Reiner: 1700

Alexis: 1400

Alexis smirked at Reiner "It seems that you're not as much of a threat as I thought."

"Oh… you think so" Reiner snarled at her as his face now had the most malicious grin ever on it. His eyes were widened and the Light of Destruction blanketed his entire body. Drawing a card he spoke in a garbled demonic tone "Let's see if you got it after this little girl; I activate Light of Destruction." The spell card depicted white light with a blue demonic face being seen in it.

"What; his powers is a card" Jaden gasped in shock.

"And with it I just give up 1000 life points" Reiner said.

Alexis: 1400

Reiner: 700

"And in return I can destroy one monster on your field" Reiner continued. "So say goodbye to your White Knight Dragon, and the rest of your life points and your soul."

"If Alexis doesn't come out of this she'll lose everything" Syrus said afraid.

"Say goodbye to everything my dear" Reiner said victoriously as Alexis' White Knight Dragon exploded. Reiner laughed victoriously "Yes I've won" but he frowned when saw Alexis still standing "What, you should be destroyed."

"Not quite" Alexis said. "I activated my last facedown at the last minute." The card was called "Nutrient Z" she said. "Since I took damage of over 2000 my life points got a 4000 point boost before it hit."

Alexis: 1400+4000=5400-3000=2400

Reiner: 700

"What, but your White Knight Fort prevents you from using trap cards during my turn" Reiner shouted.

"That would be true if I didn't activate the quick play card Mystical Space Typhoon" Alexis said holding the spell card up. "It got rid of White Knight Fort just in time.

Reiner scowled "You are trying my patience girl. I will destroy you. I activate Light of Destruction's second ability. Since I destroyed a level eight monster on your side of the field I can summon a level eight monster from my deck to the field."

"Oh no" Alexis said nervously.

"Say hello to White Princess" Reiner said summoning a new monster. This one was of a typical Japanese princess in a white yukata with patterns on it. She had white skin and long white hair (2800/2700). "Lucky for you I cannot attack this turn, but next turn you're finish and it doesn't matter what you do since White Princess can inflict piercing damage to a defense position monster."

"Oh man, Alexis needs a good card to make a comeback" Jesse said.

'Come on Alexis… I know you can do it' Jaden thought praying for her success.

'Alright I can do this' Alexis thought reaching to draw a card. She drew a card "I activate Pot of Greed." Alexis drew her two cards and widened her eyes before a wide smirk came to her face. "I've waited ten long years to be able to play these cards and what better opponent to use them on."

"Hmm" Reiner narrowed his eyes.

"I activate Seven Offerings to the Shinto" Alexis said slamming a spell card in her duel disk. Then the entire field changed revealing seven kanji signs floating above Alexis along with a red light, yellow light and blue light floating above it. Behind that was a massive shrine.

"What is the meaning of this" Reiner demanded.

"I'll tell you what it is" Alexis said. "The Seven Offering to the Shinto is a spell card that offers the Seven Cyber Angels in order to summon out the Cyber God's."

"Cyber God's" Yugi murmured staring at the field.

"Once a turn I take from my deck specific Cyber Angels and I offer them and in return I can summon a Cyber God" Alexis said. She went through her deck "So for this turn I offer Cyber Angel – Idaten, Hotei and Jurojin." All three Cyber Angel's vanished and three of the seven seals glowed before vanishing. The floating red light suddenly lit up. "My offering has been accepted so now I can summon Cyber God – Tsukuyomi."

Out of the red light a single being floated down from the skies before landing on the field. The monster had long black hair, clean face, wearing black tunic and red cybernetic armor over most of his body wielding a shield. The monster looked up with glaring red eyes (3500/3500).

Reiner scowled at the monster "That new monster of yours may be powerful, but it's not invincible. I activate White Princess' special ability; whenever you summon a monster to the field that monster loses 800 attack points." White Princess launched a white thread towards Tsukuyomi only for the Cyber God to raise his shield. It glowed red and when the white tendril hit it dispersed "What" Reiner glared.

"Sorry, but Tsukuyomi's powers of defense are so mighty he can stop the activation of monster effects and disable them" Alexis said. "Now I think I'll move onto my move; Tsukuyomi destroy his White Princess with Heaven Concealed."

Tsukuyomi raised his right arm and a massive amount of red energy erupted from his cybernetic armor and formed into a massive red ball. Tsukuyomi launched it and it enveloped White Princess and destroyed her. "And it's over" she smirked.

"Not quite" Reiner called to her.

Alexis: 2400

Reiner: 200

"What, that attack should've finished you off" Alexis shouted. "What did you do?"

"When my White Princess was destroyed I was able to activate this card from my hand" he said showing the card. It depicted swirling white energy "It's called Light Power and whenever a monster with 'White' in its name is attacked the attack points of the monster that's being attack is increased by 200 for every 'White Monster' on the field."

Alexis grunted "He saved himself again." Out loud she called to him "You got lucky this turn; it won't happen again; I'll make extra sure."

Reiner growled "You may have destroyed my White Princess, but you've also activated her second ability; when she's destroyed I can summon out her mother. Say hello to White Queen." With that Reiner summoned out another similar looking woman monster with long white hair wearing a yukata and armor over it with an imperial headdress (3500/3200). "And it looks like we're even again."

Alexis grunted "I end my turn" she said.

"Good then it's my move" Reiner said drawing a card. "I activate White Blessings" he said showing the spell card. It depicted white light shining down on a poor person "This card takes my current monster on the field and gives me life points equal to half of her original attack points."

"What, that's 1750 life points" Alexis gasped.

Alexis: 2400

Reiner: 1950

"Exactly and while your Tsukuyomi can block monster effects it can't do the same for spell effects" Reiner smirked. "Offering to the Stars raised White Queen's attack points by 500." White Queen got even stronger (3500+500=4000/3200). "Now my White Queen destroy her Cyber God." White Queen put her hands together and launched a blast of white energy that enveloped Tsukuyomi destroying him.

Reiner: 1950

Alexis: 1900

"And since you did that I can activate Tsukuyomi's final ability" Alexis said. "Since Tsukuyomi destroyed a monster I can banish him from my graveyard as well as send Cyber Angel – Benten, Dakini and Ebisu to my graveyard in order to summon Cyber God – Amaterasu."

Tsukuyomi flew out of the graveyard and into the yellow light making it glow while Alexis' three cyber angels flew to the graveyard. The yellow light glowed and a new monster emerged floating down to the field. This monster had long black hair wearing yellow tunic on the upper body along with a battle skirt on the lower body with glowing yellow cybernetic armor on the arms, legs and torso while carrying a sword in her hand. She glared with golden yellow eyes (4000/4000).

"And like you said we're all tied up again" Alexis smirked. But now I activate Cyber God – Amaterasu's special ability. I discard one card from my hand" Alexis discarded one of her two cards left in her hand to the graveyard. "And in return your White Queen loses 1000 attack points."

Reiner growled as his White Queen lost attack points (4000-1000=3000/3200).

"Now Amaterasu destroy his White Queen" Alexis ordered. Amaterasu raised her blade and swung sending a golden arc of energy at White Queen enveloping her. She was destroyed with a final scream.

Alexis: 1900

Reiner: 950

Reiner growled "Now you've activated White Queen's other ability. When she's destroyed I can summon out White Emperor." On the field appeared a man with long white hair in extravagant armor wielding a sword (4000/4000).

"I end my turn" Alexis said reluctantly.

"Good" Reiner said drawing a card. "Now White Emperor gets 500 attack points thanks to Offering to the Stars." White Emperor got a bonus increase in attack (4000+500=4500/4000). "Now my Emperor destroy that fake god." White Emperor raised his sword where white energy swirled around it before slashing at Amaterasu destroying her. Alexis shielded her eyed from the blast while Reiner smirked.

Alexis: 1400

Reiner: 950

"And to make it worse when White Emperor destroys a monster you take an extra 1000 points of damage" Reiner smirked as Alexis got hit with a backlash sending her to the ground.

Reiner: 950

Alexis: 400

"Alexis" all her friends shouted in worry while Jesse had to hold Jaden back from running to her.

Alexis grit her teeth as she forced herself back up "I won't quit; I won't give up" she vowed. More to herself than Reiner "Since you destroyed Amaterasu I can activate her special ability. Since she destroyed a monster I can banish her from my graveyard and send Cyber Angel – Mahakala to the graveyard. I can summon the mightiest of the Cyber Gods. Say hello to Cyber God – Susano" she shouted.

Amaterasu flew from Alexis' graveyard and into the blue light while Cyber Angel – Mahakala flew to the graveyard. A massive blue glow enveloped the area and a man floated down from the air. This monster had long spiky black hair with a portion covering the left eye, black tunic and cybernetic blue armor while wielding a sword and a shield in his right and left hand respectfully. The man's electric blue eyes glared at Reiner (5000/5000).

"5000 attack points" Reiner said with his eye twitching in slight fear.

"Yes and it's just enough to wipe you out" Alexis said triumphantly. "Your White Emperor is a full 1000 points weaker and you only have 950 life points left so one attack from Susano and you're finished."

"Never" Reiner roared.

"Alright Alexis is going to win" Syrus cheered.

"Oh yeah, go get him Alexis" Jesse and Jaden cheered.

"Cyber God – Susano attack with Cyber Storm Slash" she hollered. Susano hefted his blade up and slashed sending an arc of powerful lightning at White Emperor where it hit. "It's over; you've lost."

"I think no, my dear" Reiner's demonic voice said surprising Alexis. The dust cleared showing Reiner standing there with all his life points intact, but his monster gone.

"What, how are you still standing" Alexis demanded.

"I activated White Emperor's special ability" Reiner said simply. "By sacrificing a measly 700 life points I sacrificed White Emperor in order to summon White Ruler."

On the field a man with long white hair with a portion done in a top knot appeared on the field wearing a white haori and white tunic. His aged white eyes stared into open space (5000/5000). "And since your monster's target vanished your attack was canceled."

Alexis: 400

Reiner: 250

"And now your turn is over" Reiner said. "Which means the effect of my White Ruler activates; whenever he attacks a monster of equal or higher attack points than him he gains half of their attack points to increase his own." White Ruler gained 2500 attack points (7500/5000). "And now girl it's time to end this."

Alexis was silent and still as she knew what was about to happen "Jaden" she said to him softly "I tried my very best."

"Alexis no" Jaden shouted

"Your best could never beat me" Reiner shouted. "White Ruler attack her Susano and end this duel." White Ruler put his hands together and formed a massive ball of light energy.

"Forgive me Jaden" Alexis continued closing her eyes. "I am so sorry." White Ruler's attack hit Susano and the mighty Cyber God exploded in shower of white energy.

Reiner: 250

Alexis: 0

"And it's over for your girl" Reiner said maliciously. "Now your soul belongs to the stars." The star beneath them converged around Alexis and a white beam enveloped her.

"ALEXIS, NO" Jaden shouted pushing Jesse off of him and ran up to Alexis catching her body as she fell from the white beam. "Alexis" he said desperately shaking her body. Her eyes opened and she stared at Jaden, but her hazel eyes, once full of life, were dull and blank.

"Ja…den" she whispered before her eyes closed and her body disintegrated into white particles in his very arms. Jaden had a horrified look on his face as he stared at the spot Alexis once was.

"Alexis" he said in broken voice.

Everyone, except Reiner, who was smirking, was staring at Jaden with utmost sadness and pity. It was clear that he and Alexis were engaged and to watch her disappear like that must have been heartbreaking.

"No" everyone heard Jaden say making them turn to him. "Alexis… Alexis… ALEXIS" he shouted. Then Jaden reared his head back and let loose a scream of absolute pain and loss. He was clenching his fists so hard they bled, tears would not stop coming from his eyes and his roar echoed all around the island.

Then something snapped as Jaden's eyes snapped open, but they were a bright golden color. Dark black energy exploded off his body. It was so massive and so mighty that the entire island began to shake with the clouds themselves turning dark. Finally Jaden stopped screaming as he punched the ground with both hands leaving a five feet wide crater.

Panting in absolute rage Jaden turned looked up and his golden eyes froze nearly everyone to the core as it felt like staring into the face of death itself. "When we duel… you're a dead man."

Reiner chuckled "I'd say the same about you, but you're already dead inside." With that Reiner turned and walked away, but not before passing Marco and whispering something to him. Marco nodded and stepped up into the field opposite of Jaden.

"We're the last two right" Marco said addressing the MC not taking his eyes of Jaden.

"R-Right" the MC said nervously. "The last match of the quarterfinals… Marco and Jaden Yuki."

The two of them were already standing in the arena facing each other; Jaden's eyes remained a dark golden color as a black aura surrounded his body. Both of them had pulled a single card form their decks; Marco's being his Vain Knight and Jaden's being Yubel.

Yubel had seen everything "Jaden" she said softly.

"Silence Yubel" he barked at her. Yubel gasped softly at the tone before going silent.

"So the true wrath of the Supreme King has now been unleashed" Marco said simply. "Now I can see it for myself."

"Silence" Jaden roared eyes flaring and Marco went silent. "The only thing more useless than the words of a traitor is the words of a dead man. And in less than ten minutes you will fit the requirements of both."

Jaden's words had his friends very concerned and slightly scared as well. This was not how Jaden usually was; this was not Jaden, this was the Supreme King. "Let's begin this duel; I'll start" Jaden said drawing a card. "I activate Dark Fusion using this card I fuse together Evil HERO Malicious Edge and Dark Ruler Ha Des in order to summon Evil HERO Malicious Fiend" Jaden said. On the field Jaden's most powerful Evil HERO Monster appeared glowing with dark energy reflecting the anger of his king (3500/2100).

"Your most powerful Evil HERO on one turn; I'm impressed Supreme King" Marco said.

"It seems I must destroy you to get you to shut up" Jaden said his voice sounding more demonic than ever. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"My move then" Marco said. "I activate Offering to the Stars." The field spell card appeared on the field and a white star appeared underneath them. "I'm sure you know what this means." Jaden said nothing except continue to glare at Marco. "Not very talkative, that's fine. I now activate White Metamorphosis" he said. The spell card depicted a monster with a white soul coming out of it. "I can activate this card when you summon a fusion monster. Now I can summon a monster that is the same level as the one you just summoned. Since Malicious Fiend is a level 8 monster I too can summon a level eight monster. So I summon out White Light Dragon."

On the field appeared a massive white dragon with spiky horns with blue scales on certain parts of its body with deep blue eyes and spiked wings and tail (3300/2900).

"You wasted time to summon a weak monster; useless" Jaden said coldly.

"It won't be useless when I activate the spell card Black Pendant" Marco said activating the card. "Now White Light Dragon gains 500 attack points." White Light Dragon got a black pendant around its neck increasing its power (3300+500=3800/2900). "And now White Light Dragon destroy that Malicious Fiend with White Light Attack."

"Not to so fast; I activate my spell card" Jaden countered. "Go Vicious Claw." The equip spell card activated and equipped itself to Malicious Fiend raising his attack points (3500+300=3800/2100). "Now both are even" Jaden said.

Both monsters attacked each other and both of them were destroyed in a mighty explosion. "And now I activate the other effect of Malicious claw" Jaden said. "Instead of sending it to my graveyard I can bring it back to my hand and an Evil Token is summoned to your side of the field." An Evil Token appeared on Marco's side of the field (2500/2500). "Next I activate my trap car Evil Blast. Since a monster was just special summoned to your side of the field I can equip it to that monster." The Evil Token gained attack points (2500+500=3000/2500). "Not only that, but during each of my standby phases you lost 500 life points."

"Kind of like you because when Black Pendant is destroyed you lose 500 life points" Marco said.

Marco: 4000

Jaden: 3500

"It matters not" Jaden said not even fazed by the loss of life points. "Finish your turn."

Marco grunted "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move" Jaden said drawing a card. "And thanks to Evil Blast you lost 500 points."

Marco: 3500

Jaden: 3500

Jaden looked at his hand "I summon Evil HERO infernal Prodigy in defense mode." Jaden's evil HERO appeared on the field also glowing with dark energy (300/600). "I place three cards facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move again" Marco said drawing a card. "I summon White Soldier" he said summoning a white soldier in white armor with a dagger in each hand (1700/1600). "And I'm sure you remember my Deck Master Special Ability, Vain Backup. Now I summon out two more White Soldiers." Two more White Soldiers appeared on the field. "And now it's time I rip your puny defense to shreds. White Soldier attack his Infernal Prodigy."

"I activate my facedown card Evil Multiply" Jaden called. His trap card showed a picture of an Evil HERO multiplying into many. "Since I have Infernal Prodigy on the field I can multiply him into five and summon four prodigy tokens." Four copies of Infernal Prodigy appeared on the field in defense mode (300/600).

"It just means more cannon fodder" Marco said dismissively as White Soldier struck one of the Prodigy Tokens destroying it.

"You would think so, but my next card would disagree" Jaden said maliciously. "I now activate Deck Destruction Virus."

"What" Marco shouted in shock.

"You set off this trap when you destroyed my Infernal Prodigy token" Jaden explained. "And since you did Deck Destruction Virus now infects ten random cards in your deck and sends them straight to the graveyard." Tentacles shot out of the card and wrapped themselves around Marco's Duel Disk and ten cards were pulled from it and sent to the graveyard.

"Damn it" Marco cursed as the tentacles receded.

"And of course Deck Destruction Virus stays on the field as long as I have a monster to activate it" Jaden said. "And since my prodigy tokens all count as monsters of the fiend type with less than 500 attack points every time they're destroyed my virus will reactivate."

"And to make sure you don't get any funny ideas I activate my other trap card; Prodigal Ability" Jaden said activating his final facedown card. It showed a picture of Infernal Prodigy's face up close. "With this trap card, as long as Infernal Prodigy is on the field the effects of all monster, trap and spell cards are negated."

Others gasped "Oh man that has got to be the most crippling combo I have ever seen" Mai commented.

"Yeah; in order to get to Jaden's life points he has to get rid of those tokens, but if he does his deck will be destroyed" Joey said. "And he can't use the effects of monsters, spells or traps because of that trap card."

"Yes" Yugi agreed. "I honestly do not see a way out of this."

Marco grit his teeth cursing angrily in his mind; Jaden had him in an unbreakable combination. If he tried to attack he's lose more of his deck. He'd never be able to get to Jaden's life points before losing his entire deck.

'I need The Wicked Dreadroot; it's the only card that can break this combo' Marco thought. "I end my turn."

"Very well" Jaden said before drawing a card. "Don't forget because of Evil Blast you lost 500 life points." Marco grunted as he lost more life points.

Jaden: 3500

Marco: 3000

He briefly widened his eyes before stating "I pass."

Marco drew a card next "I pass as well."

Jaden drew a card and Marco winced as he lost more life points.

Jaden: 3500

Marco: 2500

"I pass again" Jaden said.

Marco grit his teeth and drew a card "I play Graceful Charity" he said. "I draw three cards and discard two." Marco drew his three cards and discarded two. Looking at his hand he scowled "I pass; there's nothing I can do."

"Of course there isn't" Jaden said in a cold tone before drawing his next card and Marco winced again as he lost more life points.

Jaden: 3500

Marco: 2000

"I pass my turn."

No one dared to interrupt the duel because of the look in Jaden's eyes; it looked like he would kill the next person who so much as dared to speak up.

Marco drew a card "I play Pot of Greed." Marco drew his two cards and widened his eyes before smirking. "Yes; Supreme King prepare to feel the wrath of your own most previous servant." Jaden narrowed his eyes "I sacrifice the Evil Token and two of my White Soldiers to summon The Wicked Dreadroot."

The three monsters vanished and in a massive flash of darkness the Wicked Dreadroot appeared on the field (4000/4000). "His Wicked God card" Jesse gasped looking at the massive beast.

"Now what's Jaden going to do" Syrus asked in fear worried for his best friend.

Marco chuckled "Now Supreme King it's time to feel the wrath of your most powerful servant. And since this monster is a God all trap and spell cards that would affect him will be negated."

"I activate my spell card Turn Skip" Jaden said showing a card from his hand showing two duelists sitting in front of each other dueling. "I can activate this when you summon a Level 8 or higher monster. Your turn is now skipped and it works since this card affects you and not Dreadroot it works."

Marco tsked "Fine, I end my turn."

"Then it's my move" Jaden said in a deadly tone drawing a card. "And now you'll experience the true power of darkness. I sacrifice three of my prodigy tokens to summon the almighty Wicked Eraser." The sky turned even blacker, the wind began roaring and lightning struck down from the skies scorching the ground. Out of the sky a black light descended and then massive wings shot from the light before a long serpentine body followed it. Finally out of the light a massive dragon's head looking just like Slifer the Sky Dragon, but with dark armor over its body and with a duller red shade. The Wicked Eraser had arrived (X000/X000).

The Wicked Eraser roared loudly at Marco "His Wicked God card" Marco gasped. 'How could he have summoned it out just after me. I was so close.'

"O-O-Oh my God" Syrus stuttered falling on his butt.

"W-What is that" Jim stuttered.

"Uh Chazz" Jesse said nervously.

"The hugest duel monster I've ever seen" Chazz said his body shaking.

'So this is The Wicked Eraser' Kaiba thought staring at the monster in awe. 'It looks just like Slifer the Sky Dragon.' Looking at the scenario Kaiba was reminded of his duel with Yugi during his Battle City Tournament when they both had their Egyptian God Cards on the field.

"Now you've lost" Jaden said eyes glowing with all the anger of the Supreme King. "The Wicked Eraser's attack points are determined by the amount of cards you hold in your hand. Since you currently hold eight cards in your hand that give the almighty Wicked Eraser 8000 attack points. And The Wicked Dreadroot's Divine Dividing ability doesn't work on another Wicked God so in other words you're finished."

Marco's eyes were wide with fear and terror before he suddenly smirked "Now hold on a minute Jaden; do you really wish to destroy me?"

"What kind of ridiculous, inconsequential question is that" Jaden snapped. "After everything you've done I'll destroy you."

"But if you destroy me… who will show you how to bring back your darling Alexis" Marco said smoothly. Jaden, and everyone else, widened their eyes at what Marco just said. Marco chuckled seeing that he now had his attention. "Master Reiner has entrusted me with keeping her soul in my possession" he said puling a card from his pocket. "Her very soul rests in this card and only I know how to release it."

"TELL ME HOW TO RELEASE HER" Jaden roared at Marco.

"Ah, Ah, Ah that's not very nice" Marco said. "First you must discard The Wicked Eraser and your Token. Then I will show you."

"No Jaden don't do it" Jesse shouted. "It's just a trick."

"He's right Jaden" Yugi shouted. "You can't listen to him."

Jaden didn't listen to either of them; to him a world without Alexis was a world that wasn't worth living in. Jaden grabbed The Wicked Eraser and his token and discarded both of them. "There I've gotten rid of them; now tell me."

"You could try saying please" Marco mocked. Jaden walked towards Marco "Ah it seems you're not paying attention; then too bad." He then tore the card in half "Alexis is gone forever."

Jaden's eyes widened in absolute horror "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" he screamed in agony as tears fell from his eyes again.

His scream of agony had the females in tears from the pain in his voice while the males clenched their fists. "Psych" Marco said making Jaden look up. "You idiot; I just tore a useless Spellcaster card in half" he said revealing a torn in half Magician of Faith. Marco laughed "The look on your face was priceless."

Jaden's growl was scarier than the largest monster as he looked up his eyes practically narrowed into slits. The dark aura around him skyrocketed with golden lightning bolts dancing around his body. The wind blew his hair and jacket around "Marco… you will pay dearly for that stunt." Jaden turned and walked back to his side of the field.

"Jeez, someone has no sense of humor" Marco said teasingly. Jaden turned back to him the same glare on his face "But you can't win now; you voluntarily discarded your own Wicked God and your token, which means your trap cards are destroyed as well. Now your field is completely empty so next turn you're finished."

"No you fool; it is you who is finished" Jaden said. "I activate the spell card Half-Eraser" Jaden said playing a spell card that had a picture of the Wicked Eraser's face on it. "With Wicked Eraser in my graveyard I just sacrifice half of my life points and in return one monster that is the same type as Wicked Eraser loses half of its attack points."

Marco: 2000

Jaden: 1750

Marco gasped as The Wicked Dreadroot lost half of its power (4000-2000=2000/4000). "No, how could this happen" Marco shouted.

"Because the Wicked God's true powers answer to me and me alone" Jaden hissed. "Now I play Black Evil" he said playing a spell card that depicted an Evil HERO rising from the grave. "At the cost of 700 life points I can bring an Evil HERO back from the graveyard for one battle, but he most go back after he attacks. Also I can only attack with that one card this turn."

Marco: 2000

Jaden: 1050

"So come back Evil HERO Malicious Edge" Jaden said and his Malicious Edge rose from the grave (2600/1800). "Next I summon to the field Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" Jaden said summoning another Evil HERO (1600/0). "But I am far from done; next I activate a trap card from my hand."

"You can't do that" Marco shouted.

"I most certainly can" Jaden shouted in return. "This trap card activates when I summon Malicious Edge from the graveyard; it's called Malicious Trap." The trap card depicted a spike trap in a dark pit trap. "With that, one monster on your field is destroyed and I select your White Soldier." White Soldier screamed and was destroyed.

Marco screamed in anger from the backlash while Jaden smirked slightly "I told you that you would pay for that stunt; unfortunately when Malicious Edge is summoned from the graveyard in this fashion he becomes weaker, but it is well worth the price for now I can destroy you." Malicious Edge lost some attack points (2600-300=2300/1800).

"Now my Malicious Edge destroy The Wicked Dreadroot" Jaden ordered. Malicious Edge shot forward and slashed through The Wicked Dreadroot making the God Monster roar before being destroyed.

Marco: 1700

Jaden: 1050

Malicious Edge then went back to the graveyard; Marco glared at Jaden "Nice try, but it looks your turn just came to an end, which means I still have a chance to destroy you. I will not be stopped here."

"Too bad I'm not done yet" Jaden said coldly.

"Huh" Marco said confused.

"Now quiet down so I can complete my turn" Jaden said dismissively.

"What are you talking about; your monster has already attacked and you can't attack with Infernal Gainer, there's nothing you can do" Marco protested.

"I can still play this" Jaden shouted. "Go Wrath of the Supreme King." The spell card depicted the Supreme King with a sneering face with dark aura around his body and golden lightning bolts around his body.

"What are you going to do with that" Marco demanded with a glare.

"First I must toss out my entire hand" Jaden said discarding his entire hand. "Now I must continue to draw cards and I am not to stop until I draw a Trap or Monster Card. Meanwhile with each Spell card I draw I can attack you with an Evil HERO monster; as long as that Evil HERO has not attacked and is Level 4 or less."

"Not attacked" Marco repeated before his eyes widened when he remembered Jaden explaining the details of bringing back Malicious Edge. 'He's been planning this all along' Marco thought furiously.

"It's the beginning of the end for you" Jaden said drawing a card from his deck. "I've drawn Polymerization" he said showing the spell card. "And since it's a spell card Infernal Gainer can attack; GO" he shouted. Infernal Gainer shot forward and slashed at Marco making him scream.

Jaden: 1050

Marco: 100

"Now for my next card" Jaden shouted drawing a card. His card was Hero's Guild "Looks like you're out of luck" he said unsympathetically. "Attack again" he ordered and Infernal Gainer attacked again making Marco scream again.

Jaden: 1050

Marco: 0

But instead of stopping Jaden horrified everyone when he said "I draw again; another spell card" he said revealing Sub-Space Battle. Infernal Gainer attacked again making Marco scream in pain again. "I draw again; this just isn't your day" he revealed Code Change. Infernal Gainer attacked once again.

Everyone had wide eyes as they watched Jaden reach new levels of cruelness, mercilessness and rage. Yugi grit his teeth as he remembered going through this same thing when dealing with Weevil.

"INFERNAL GAINER; ATTACK HIM AGAIN" Jaden roared after drawing Contact Out. Infernal Gainer attacked again and Marco screamed in absolute agony as the attack took all of his strength. Marco collapsed to his knees as the star underneath him and Jaden converged on him and enveloped him. Jaden drew another card "Let's see… oh well" he said mercilessly.

"Jaden that's enough" Yugi shouted running forward and grabbing Jaden's wrist.

"Let me go" Jaden roared at him.

Yugi did his best to calm Jaden down "You can stop now, it's over Jaden; you've already won the duel. The Offering to the Stars is gone now." Jaden panted as he managed to calm himself down, but his eyes remained the evil golden color. Jaden looked over at the spot where Marco was only to see him disintegrating leaving behind a single card. "We've got to put an end to this madness" Yugi said to Jaden letting him go.

Jaden stared at the spot where Marco was 'Yugi is right… I have a duty to keep' he thought staring at the spell card he had drawn. It was the spell card known as Swing of Memories.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	13. Chapter 13

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Thirteen)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Once Jaden had managed to control himself he walked over to the spot where Marco once stood; all that was left of him was The Wicked Dreadroot card. Jaden bent down and picked up the card and felt the darkness flow through the card into him and heard a deep voice.

"Forgive me my king; I couldn't break free."

Jaden knew it was the spirit of The Wicked Dreadroot 'Do not worry about it' Jaden responded back mentally. 'Together we'll crush the light and banish it to the deepest, darkest corners of the universe where no light will ever reach it again.'

With that Jaden turned his golden gaze to Reiner and mouthed 'You're next' before slashing his throat with his finger indicating when they dueled Jaden would kill him. Reiner scowled as his henchmen was destroyed and a second Wicked God card was out of his possession.

Nervously the MC announced "That is the end of the quarterfinals; the Semi-Finals and Final duels will take place tomorrow at exactly 10:00. The four finalists are Serenity Taylor, Jesse Anderson, Jaden Yuki and Reiner. Duelists you have the rest of today to yourselves."

Immediately Jaden's friends walked up to him as he began to walk away "Jaden –" Jesse began.

"I want to be alone" was all Jaden said before walking off. His friends could do nothing, but watch as Jaden walked off.

SCENE CHANGE

No one had seen Jaden at all that entire night even when a couple of his friends went to his room to check on him. No one answered the door and whenever they tried calling him the phone would hang up after one beep showing he knew they were calling, but didn't want to talk.

Jaden was standing silently at the beach staring out at the ocean from his bed. The stars twinkled off the crystal blue waters and the full moon reflected the farthest parts of the ocean. Alexis' words flashed through his mind.

"I want to have our honeymoon in a place like this" she had said. "A place away from dueling."

"That sounds wonderful" he had said.

"Alexis" Jaden whispered as his golden eyes filled with tears. Footsteps behind Jaden made him turn around and standing there was Jesse with a soft, sad look on his face. "Tell me… why did I have to inherit this power? Why is it causing everyone I love to die?" Jesse didn't say anything "Alexis… I'm sorry" he choked out through sobs and tears. Jesse finally walked up to Jaden as Jaden just let it all out on Jesse's shoulder. "Damn it… damn it" Jaden cursed as he sobbed. Jesse just held his friend in his arms silently so he could let it all out. Sometimes in situations like this words wouldn't do anything so Jesse said nothing and just supported Jaden so he could let it all out.

NEXT MORNING

Compared the cosmic dark storm Jaden unleashed yesterday everything was all nice and sunny; once more everyone was outside in the back arena waiting and watching as the Semi-Finals of the Ultimate Tournament was about to begin. Jaden looked to be much calmer than he was yesterday, but his eyes remained gold in color and the others kept staring at him wearily concerned if he would blow a gasket again.

The MC finally stepped up "Attention Duelists; the Semi-finals of the Ultimate Tournament will now commence. Once more the Four Duelists that are in the finals are Reiner, Jesse Anderson, Serenity Taylor and Jaden Yuki."

All four duelists were in the center of the arena standing side by side "Like the previous rounds the semi-finals will be determined by random matchup and the Deck Master chosen by you in the previous rounds will be selected again. Any questions?" No one said anything "Good then we'll pick the names for the first Semifinal match."

The screen flashed through names again and they all watched waiting for the names to pop up. Finally after a minute everything stopped.

Jesse Anderson vs. Reiner

Jesse gulped when he saw his name come up to face Reiner. Jesse had never felt afraid of a duel in his entire life, but right now he felt downright terrified. His friends gave him similar nervous looks and Jaden gave Jesse a small pat on the shoulder and a small nod.

Jesse nodded back and gulped before stepping to his side while Jaden and Serenity walked back to the sidelines. Finally Jesse and Reiner were the only ones left in the field with their duel disks activated and their Deck Master's summoned.

Reiner chuckled making Jesse frown "Just what's so funny?"

"I find it funny that fate seems to always be smiling on me" Reiner responded. "Every duelist I've faced is dearest friends or loved one of the Supreme King. I, and my former subordinate, have taken nearly everything from him. First Axel, then Aster and then his love Alexis. And now you will be taken from him as well, his best friend."

"That ain't gonna happen" Jesse said fiercely. "Now stop running your mouth and start dueling."

"As you wish" Reiner smirked. "And I think I'll start this out." Reiner drew a card "And I'll start with activating White Devil's Deck Master Ability." Jesse prepared for anything "For the Duration of the entire duel I can summon Level 5 and 6 monsters to the field without a sacrifice. In exchange I can't play Field Spell Cards."

"That means he can't activate that Offering to the Stars field spell card" Syrus said

"But it also means he can summon more powerful monsters to the field" Chazz said. "It means tougher opponents for Jesse to face."

"And so I summon to the field White Villain – The Kidnapper in attack mode." On the field appeared a white haired man dressed in casual clothes with a disarming look to him, but sinister eyes (2200/2000). "And with that I place one card facedown."

"Oh man, a monster with 2200 attack points in one turn" Syrus said nervously.

"My move" Jesse said drawing a card. Looking at his hand Jesse was amazed at what he saw before he smirked. "Alright Reiner let me show you that you're not the only one who can summon a powerful monster on the first turn."

"Hmm" Reiner hummed.

"First I activate Crystal Tree" Jesse said. Jesse's Crystal Tree appeared on the field. "Next I activate my spell card Rainbow Blessing. With this I can place Crystal Counters on my crystal tree. In order to do that I must give up live points times 1000 for each crystal counter I put on it."

"That's a real gutsy move" Mai said. "Giving up life points to give himself a lead in monsters may backfire."

"I give up 2000 life points" Jesse said wincing as he lost life points.

Reiner: 4000

Jesse: 2000

"And now I place two Crystal Counters on my Crystal Tree" Jesse said. Two branches on his tree glowed. "Now I activate Crystal Tree and send it to my graveyard in order to summon two Crystal Beasts cards from my deck to the field. I summon Crystal Beast's Cobalt Eagle and Sapphire Pegasus." On the field an eagle with a sapphire gem appeared (1400/800) and a Pegasus with a sapphire horn appeared on the field (1800/1200).

"Your crystal beasts will be shattered" Reiner smirked at him. "My Kidnapper has 2200 attack points and your strongest has 1800, which means you're about to feel unbearable agony." Reiner thrusted his hand at Jesse and Jesse gasped when a white thread came from his chest and connected to his monsters.

"What the… what is this" Jesse demanded.

"A duel the likes of which you've never faced before" Reiner smirked. "That energy stream connected to your monster is connected to your life energy. When you lost a monster you lose your life energy and soon you will be drained dry and your soul sent to the stars."

Everyone stared in shock at the effects of the game. Joey, especially, was clenching his fists and Yugi, Kaiba and Mai noticed. Joey's fists were clenched tight, his teeth grit and his eyes narrowed fiercely; this was just like his duel with Marik back in the original Battle City Tournament.

While Jesse felt even more nervous he braced himself "If that's how you want to play then I hope you have a high pain tolerance" Jesse said. "I continue with my move; I activate Sapphire Pegasus' special ability. An ability that lets me take a crystal beast from my deck and place it in my spell/trap card zone. And the crystal beast I choose is Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise." Jesse placed his monster in his spell and trap card zone and an emerald crystal appeared on his field.

"You think that will make any difference" Reiner said smugly. "Nothing will help you."

"I beg to differ" Jesse said taking a card from his hand. "I now sacrifice both Crystal Beasts in order to summon Rainbow Magician." Both Crystal Beasts disappeared in a rainbow light and on the field a monster dressed in the usual magician clothing and magician hat, all white in color, with many jewel studs along it. The magician carried a white staff with a clear orb on the end with blue eyes (3200/2800).

Reiner growled slightly at the card "Alright, another new card of Jesse's" Syrus cheered.

"And with my Rainbow Magician, I'll gain an early lead" Jesse said. "Attack with Celestial Rainbow." Rainbow Magician thrusted his staff at Reiner's monster and it was enveloped and destroyed.

Reiner: 3000

Jesse: 2000

Reiner winced slightly and everyone could see a white energy beam flow out of his body briefly. Reiner glared at Jesse "Nice try Anderson, but I knew you would make that move, which is why my facedown card is White Threads of Destruction." The trap card depicted a monster wrapped up in white threads "Since you destroyed one of my monsters this trap card destroys the monster that destroyed it." White threads shot from the trap card and went towards Jesse's monster "Say goodbye to your monster." Rainbow Magician then twirled his staff so rapidly a shield of rainbow energy appeared and destroyed the white threads and the trap card. "What" Reiner said shocked.

"Sorry Reiner, but my Rainbow Magician's magic powers are so mighty he can stop the activation of trap cards like your White Threads and destroy them" Jesse explained. Seeing Reiner's scowl made Jesse smirk "So I guess I'll end this turn with one facedown card." Reiner went to draw a card "But before you draw that card let me tell of Rainbow Magician's second special ability."

"What" Reiner said.

"At the end of each of my turns as long as Rainbow Magician is on the field you lose 400 life points" Jesse said. Reiner widened his eyes before grunting as he lost more life points.

Reiner: 2600

Jesse: 2000

"Now you can make your move" Jesse said with a smirk.

"Cheeky brat" Reiner scowled drawing a card. Then he smirked "Your monster may not be affected by trap cards, but what about monster effects? I activate The Kidnapper's special ability; when he's destroyed I can simply banish him from my graveyard and summon a new White Villain monster. I now summon out White Villain – The Assassin." On the field a monster shrouded in a white cloak with armor underneath the cloak appeared on the field (2800/2400).

Jesse frowned "You seemed so happy just to be able to summon that card, but its 400 points weaker than my monster" he said.

"Ah, but don't you know the ultimate power of Assassins" Reiner said as if lecturing a child. "They never fight fairly or face to face." Jesse widened his eyes when he realized what this meant. "I sacrifice 1000 life points and now Assassin can attack your life points directly."

Jesse: 2000

Reiner: 1600

"Oh no, Jesse only has 2000 life points left" Jim gasped. "If this attack hits he's done for."

"There's nothing he can do; his soul will now join the others in the stars" Reiner laughed victoriously.

"I don't think so" Jesse shouted. "Go trap card; Rainbow Life." A rainbow barrier appeared around Jesse as Assassin struck from behind. "This trap card activates when you attack; now instead of losing life points I gain life points."

Jesse: 2000+2800=4800

Reiner: 1600

"Alright Jesse, nice save" Syrus cheered for him. Jaden still had his arms crossed with his eyes gold, but he did smile and nod to Jesse.

"It seems that Anderson has no problem" Kaiba said to himself watching Jesse's move.

Reiner grunted "You may have stopped the initial attack, but every time Assassin attacks, whether it's successful or not, you take damage equal to ¼ of his attack points." Jesse winced as he lost life points.

Jesse: 4100

Reiner: 1600

"I place two cards face down on the field" Reiner said.

"My draw now" Jesse said drawing a card. "Rainbow Magician attack his Assassin; Celestial Rainbow Attack." Rainbow Magician launched a massive attack at The Assassin.

"You predictable child" Reiner sneered. "I activate my facedown card White Swipe." The trap card revealed The Assassin swiping an object inside a glass case. "This trap card activates when you attack The Assassin. Now I can swipe one card from my deck and add it to my hand."

"That means nothing; your monster will still be destroyed" Jesse called.

"Not if I play the card I swiped" Reiner said. "Go White Ninjato." The spell card depicted a small short sword with a white handle.

"White Ninjato… what does it do" Jesse asked.

"White Ninjato can be equipped to The Assassin when he attacks or is attacked by a monster stronger than him." The Assassin gripped the sword as it appeared on the field "And in return he gains 800 attack points." The Assassin glowed as his powers rose even higher (2800+800=3600/2400). "And since it's too late to stop your attack your precious Rainbow Magician is destroyed." The Assassin charged through the attack and slashed through Rainbow Magician destroying it.

Jesse: 3700

Reiner: 1600

The effects of the duel hit Jesse hard as he gave a scream of pain before grasping his chest panting. Out of his back a blue energy stream shot from him as he fell to his knees shuddering with wide eyes. Reiner chuckled evilly "It hurts doesn't it; the feeling of having the very energy that keeps you alive being drained from your body. It's only going to get worse."

Jesse stood back on his feet with a grunt. 'Damn that hurts' he thought drawing a card. "You think you have a lead because you destroyed my monster; don't think so. I banish Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle and Sapphire Pegasus from my graveyard in order to summon Rainbow Mechanic." On the field a new monster appeared with this one being a machine monster all white in color with gem studs all over its body wielding a wrench in one hand and a crowbar in the other (2500/2000).

"Just what do you plan on doing with that weakling" Reiner mocked.

"Watch me" Jesse grunted. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Jesse drew his two cards. "Next I play E Force. With this I can special summon Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise from my spell/trap card zone to the field." Emerald Tortoise appeared on the field in defense mode (600/2000). "Next I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again" Reiner said drawing a card. "And since my Deck Master special ability is still activated. I can summon a level 5 or six monster without a sacrifice. So I summon out White Sorceress." On the field the same White Sorceress that Marco used in his previous duels appeared (2100/1500). "Now Assassin destroy his Rainbow Mechanic and bring him more agony."

"I don't think so I activate my facedown card Prism Wall" Jesse shouted. "With this spell card I can switch your attack to a new target. Now your Assassin attacks Emerald Tortoise." Assassin shot forward and attacked Emerald Tortoise. "And as per effect of Prism Wall now we both take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points."

Jesse: 3100

Reiner: 1000

Reiner growled "You little pest; you won't have any defense after this; I activate my other facedown card White Burning." This spell card depicted White Sorceress with a hand full of white magic. "With this card White Sorceress gets an attack point increase of 1000." White Sorceress got an attack point increase (2100+1000=3100/1500). "Now my White Sorceress attack his Rainbow Mechanic."

White Sorceress launched a massive attack that hit Rainbow Mechanic. Jesse screamed in agony as the effects of the game hit him hard.

Jesse: 2500

Reiner: 1000

"I hope a little dose of pain has reminded you of where you are right now" Reiner said with a smirk. "Does it hurt Jesse, the pain of the light?"

Jesse grunted slightly panting as another stream of blue energy left his body draining him of even more strength. "I… I'm not done yet" Jesse said with a grunt of pain. "I activate Rainbow Mechanic's special ability; whenever he's destroyed he can put himself back together as long as I remove one crystal beast from play in my graveyard. So I remove from play Emerald Tortoise and in exchange Rainbow Mechanic comes back with Emerald Tortoise's defense points added to his own."

Rainbow Mechanic appeared back on the field with splotches of emerald built into his armor (2500/2000+2000=4000).

"A 4000 point defense will keep Jesse in the run for a long time" Yugi commented. "A good strategy."

"Once more you just delay the inevitable" Reiner said. "I end my turn with a facedown."

"I'm not delaying anything" Jesse said drawing a card. "I'm fighting the duel of my life to stop your madness. You've brought nothing, but pain to everyone including my best friend. And I will not let you take anything else from him; NEVER AGAIN."

"Jesse" Jaden whispered as he felt a tear come to his eye.

"Your love for your friend is admirable" Reiner said. "It makes me sick; make your move."

Jesse looked at his hand before spotting a card. 'Fusion Gem… I could use that card to take his monsters out, but I need one more card for that.' Looking at the card he just drew he thought 'This could come in handy, but I need to play my cards right.'

"Alright Reiner, I play Graceful Charity" Jesse said. "Now I draw three cards and discard two." Once Jesse did that he had four cards in his hand. Looking at his hand Jesse grinned "I told you I would stop you and now I'm going to."

Reiner grunted 'What's he up to?'

"I activate Fusion Gem" Jesse said slamming the card on the field. "With it I fuse my Rainbow Mechanic and my Rainbow Knight in my hand to summon a new monster." Both monsters briefly appeared on the field before merging together and forming a monster that was all machine with gem stuffs, but carried a cybernetic shield and a gem sword (3700/3400).

"Say hello to my Rainbow Cyber Knight" Jesse said with victory in his eyes. Reiner scowled at the monster "And now it's time to end this: Rainbow Cyber Knight attack his White Sorceress and end this duel."

"Not so fast Jesse" Reiner shouted. "Go facedown card; Attack Guidance Armor." A set of evil looking armor appeared and latched onto his Assassin.

"A trap" Jesse gasped.

"Very observant, now your trap is diverted" Reiner smirked as his Assassin was destroyed as was his equip card.

Jesse: 2500

Reiner: 900

"And since the Assassin was destroyed I can now summon to the field my most powerful villain" Reiner smirked. "Say hello to White Villain – The Murderer." On the field appeared a monster dressed in all white like his other monsters, but this one had a psychotic grin on his face with two knives in each hand and a gun at his waste (3500/3000).

Jesse scowled slightly 'That monster may be powerful, but my Rainbow Cyber Knight is stronger. I just hope he doesn't have an extra backup plan.' "I end my turn with one facedown" Jesse said with his hand no empty.

"Good, then it's time for me to crush you" Reiner said. "I play my own Pot of Greed so I can draw two cards." Reiner drew his two cards and his smirk was downright diabolical. "I now discard one card from my hand to activate The Murderer's special ability. I can now sneak into your deck and banish two monsters from them."

Jesse grunted in anger as his deck monsters were displayed to Reiner. "Hmm, Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth are banished." Both monsters appeared before vanishing and Jesse reshuffled his deck. "And next I activate his other special ability, but sacrificing one monster on my field the Murderer gains 1000 attack points."

"What" Jesse shouted.

"That's right; White Sorceress be gone" Reiner barked. White Sorceress vanished and The Murderer glowed before laughing psychotically as his power rose (3500+1000=4500/3000).

"Oh man, that's more powerful than my monster" Jesse gasped.

"That's right Jesse" Reiner smirked. "Murderer, attack his Rainbow Cyber Night with Bloodlust Death." The Murderer charged forward with a psychotic laugh and stabbed through Rainbow Cyber Night destroying it. Jesse screamed even louder in pain as the backlash hit him.

Jesse: 1700

Reiner: 900

"Come on Jesse, fight it" Jaden shouted.

"I-I activate a facedown" Jesse gasped. "Crystal Summon." The spell card depicted a crystal being summoned to the field. "When a monster of mine is destroyed I… I can summon a Crystal Beast in defense mode. A-And I summon Topaz Tiger." Jesse's Topaz Tiger appeared on the field in defense mode (1600/1000).

"Then I'll see your spell card with one of my own" Reiner shouted. "Go Wicked Summoning." This spell card depicted a single dark sphere rising from over a horizon. "I can activate this card when you special summon a monster to the field. Now I can summon a monster back from my graveyard and I choose the card I just sent to the graveyard. My great beast, the final and most powerful of the Wicked God cards."

"No way" Triston said shocked. "You mean…"

"He's going to summon…" Mai continued.

Yugi clenched his fist "A Wicked God card."

"Rise from the grave my beast; come forth The Wicked Avatar" Reiner roared. From the light behind him a single being rose from the depths. What appeared was a massive sphere (?/?).

"That's The Wicked Avatar" Kaiba gasped.

"The Wicked Avatar may not look imposing, but it is the most powerful Wicked God and I will show you now" Reiner shouted as power glowed from his body. His face then began to bulge with veins "The Wicked Avatar's attack and defense points are automatically 100 points higher than the strongest monster on the field."

"Stronger than the strongest monster" Joey gasped. "No way."

"That makes The Wicked Avatar's attack and defense points 4600 and 3100 respectfully" Jim realized with growing fear. The Wicked Avatar's attack points rose (4600/3100). "And now you're finished."

"Oh man; Jesse's done for" Syrus said scared for his friend.

"Not quite" Chazz said getting the attention of the observers. "Since The Wicked Avatar is a God Card spell cards like Wicked Summoning would only work for one turn and Wicked Summoning's effect demands a sacrifice at the end of the turn it was activated to summon The Wicked Avatar in the first place. If Jesse can survive this turn and draw the right card he'll win the duel."

"You hear that Jesse" Joey shouted to him. "Just survive this one turn and you'll win."

"He'll never survive" Reiner shouted. "Wicked Avatar wipe out his tiger and send his soul to the stars." The Wicked Avatar descended down on Jesse and launched a massive beam of dark energy. The attack hit and Jesse screamed the loudest and agony filled scream anyone had ever heard.

"FIGHT IT JESSE" Jaden screamed to him. It wasn't just Jesse, but Topaz Tiger screamed as it was destroyed as well.

"Do you feel all of your life energy leaving you Jesse" Reiner shouted over Jesse's screams. He laughed cruelly and victoriously until the attack finally stopped. "When the smoke clears you will be an empty shell and your soul gone. At least your friends won't be alone." The smoke begun to clear and Reiner widened his eyes in shock as Jesse was still standing, smoking and injured greatly, but still standing. "This can't be, no one can withstand the fury of a Wicked God, NO ONE."

"Jesse's still standing" Jim gasped in shock.

"But for how long" Chazz said gravely. Jesse weakly looked up; his emerald eyes were blank.

"You can't, you should be wiped out" Reiner shouted.

"In… you're… dreams" Jesse croaked out. Speaking of dreams Jesse just felt like he entered one because instead of staring at Reiner he was staring at Jaden as he was before everything happened. "Jaden" he said weakly.

"What are you looking so slouched for; our duel is about to begin" Jaden said with his duel disk activated and his playful grin present.

"What… but I'm in a duel with Reiner now" Jesse said confused.

"Don't you remember, you won" Jaden said. "Your will power overcame him and now it's our turn to duel in the finals. Get your game on Jesse."

Jesse found the last bit of strength he had and was back in the real world "I… must win" Jesse croaked out. "It's time… to end you."

Reiner growled with a face of fear "If he succeeds I'll lose the duel, my Wicked God and everything."

"It's… my turn now" Jesse said before coughing violently. He looked up weakly "And you're wide open." The Wicked Avatar and White Villain – The Murderer vanished.

"This can't be happening" Reiner ground out in anger and fear.

"He did it" Syrus cheered.

"Alright" Triston, Serenity and Mai cheered. "All he needs to do is summon a monster with enough attack points and he wins" Mai said.

"And then he'll advance to the finals" Serenity added.

"Make your move Jesse and end this madness" Jaden encouraged him.

"Here… goes something" Jesse weakly drew a card and held it up to his face and through blurry vision he saw the card. 'Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat. She's got just enough attack points to end this' he thought.

"What did he draw" Chazz said with anxiousness.

"Alright Reiner" Jesse said with as much strength as he could. "I summon… Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat." Jesse's Amethyst Cat appeared on the field (1200/400).

"Alright, his Amethyst Cat has just enough attack points" Joey said with a grin.

"Make your move Jesse; go" Jaden shouted to him.

"I…" Jesse croaked before coughing violently. A glob of blood fell from his mouth getting horrified looks from everyone before Jesse fell forward collapsing onto his knees before falling onto the ground.

"JESSE" everyone shouted in horror.

"This duel is over" Kaiba roared to the MC. "Call the medics immediately."

"Yes sir" the MC said pulling a phone out and dialing for the medics while Jaden, Syrus, Jim and Chazz ran to Jesse.

"Jesse, Jesse you okay" Syrus asked with wide eyes.

"Jesse, you better wake up now" Chazz shouted at Jesse, but Jesse didn't move.

Jim put his hand under Jesse's nose and his single eyes widened "He's not breathing" he said getting horrified looks "WHERE ARE THOSE MEDICS" he roared at Kaiba.

"We're here" a group of medics called running over to them. Two of them rolled out a stretcher while another assessed Jesse. He went wide eyed "He has no pulse" he said making everyone else gasp. "This is very serious; he has ten minutes at best. We need to get him to the emergency room now."

"Stand back" another medic barked as they loaded Jesse up on the stretcher and ran to the emergency room. It was like slow motion as everyone watched Jesse be wheeled past them silent, pale and unmoving.

"Jesse" Jaden whispered. His mind flashed back to Jesse's brave dueling. No matter how much pain he was in he kept fighting and no matter how hopeless the situation was he kept fighting strongly and even after being devastated by The Wicked Avatar's attack Jesse still had enough strength to summon a monster.

Reiner smirked at Jaden "There goes another soul to the stars. I'll admit this one was tough –" Reiner coughed and gagged slightly sweating heavily. "– But not tough enough. How many more must die before you face me Supreme King?"

Jaden turned and glared harshly at Reiner before walking up to the pile of blood that Jesse had spit out overexerting his body. Bending down Jaden ran his fingers through the blood before gripping his hand into a fist "On the blood of my best friend…" Jaden turned to Reiner and held his hand out with it dripping with Jesse's blood. "… I vow to end you."

Seeing Jaden make a blood vow showed everyone how serious Jaden truly was. To swear on blood, especially the blood of a friend, was nothing to scoff at.

Jaden then began to walk away "First I will make sure Jesse is okay and then… I'll deal with you."

SCENE CHANGE

Jaden stood with everyone else in the medical room as Jesse was hooked up to various machines "How is he doctor" Jim asked.

"His breathing is feint, but steady" the doctor responded. "We've stabilized his heart we're monitoring him around the clock until he awakens. The injuries he's sustained were serious, but not critical, but right now it's his mind that we're concerned about."

"His mind" Chazz said confused. "What do you mean?"

"I've worked for Mr. Kaiba for over twenty years now" the doctor explained. "And during that time I've received patients who have suffered from shadow games. The body is usually unharmed, but it is the mind that suffers extensively, but we have no way of curing it or knowing where the cause is. Such is the case with Mr. Anderson. His brain waves are normal right now, but at any moment they could dip to low scales. If it reaches below a certain point… then there won't be anything we can do for him."

"So in other words… it's all up to Jesse's willpower" Jaden summarized.

"That's basically it" The doctor confirmed.

"Then there's nothing to worry about" Jaden said turning to walk away.

"What do you mean" Syrus asked.

"If Jesse was strong enough to withstand The Wicked Avatar while suffering damage beforehand and still summon a monster to the field then he has enough will power to break through this" Jaden said simply. "We just have to believe in him. Now… I have a duel to get to… and a world to save."

SCENE CHANGE

While Jaden and the others were with Jesse in the emergency room the others were back outside discussing everything. "This is definitely Marik all over again" Joey said with a scowl. "And I thought dealing with him was bad, but to just sit on the side and do nothing while these kids fight and die is infuriating."

"Joey" Mai said softly knowing what he went through. Having to watch it again, but happen to someone else, must have upset him more than she thought.

"I agree Joey" Yugi said. "But there's still hope; Jaden can still defeat him."

"I don't know if you've noticed Yugi, but Jaden isn't exactly the definition of sane right now" Kaiba said.

"Can you blame him Kaiba" Yugi said seriously. "He's had to watch as his friends were defeated one by one; even the one he loved the most vanished right in his arms. Tell me Kaiba would you be able to stay calm if you were in his position?" Kaiba didn't say anything "I didn't think so."

"Do you think he can do it Yugi" Triston asked.

"I do" Yugi said confidently. "He can do it… because he's already done it before."

SCENE CHANGE

Now Jaden stood out in the arena facing Serenity Taylor, the only one of the duelists from Yugi's generation to make it to the semi-finals. The twenty-five year old woman stood as confidently as she could, but the golden eyes of Jaden were making her nervous and she knew what was on the line. Privately she had confided to Mai about forfeiting, but her sister-in-law would have none of that and convinced Serenity to continue.

Secretly, unknown to Joey, Mai, Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Serenity their children were secretly watching the events from the safety of some hidden trees outside the dueling arena. The three of them, despite their young age, knew that something bad was going on

"I know dad told us stories about crazy things happening when he was dueling, but I didn't think it was actually true" Michael said.

"Yeah I agree with you there" Thomas said. "Who would've thought and now it's like the world's ending."

"Poor Jaden though" Allison said sadly as her violet eyes stared at Jaden. "All of his friends keep getting taken from him."

"I know; I feel bad for him" Michael said. "And Thomas, now he's dueling Aunt Serenity."

"I know" Thomas said staring at his mother with his brown eyes. "I want mom to win, but… I don't know." The three young children huddled together watching the duel that was about to take place. Jaden and Serenity shuffled each other's decks before handing them back and walking to their own squares. Once there their duel disks activated and they faced each other summoning both Yubel and Goddess with the Third Eye behind them.

'I can't waste time on her; I'm going to end this quickly and then move onto Reiner' Jaden thought.

'I know this guy is strong and he's got a lot of things he's fighting for, but I'm going to do my best' Serenity thought.

"GAME ON" they both shouted. "I'll start" Jaden said drawing a card. "First I summon Trueman in attack mode" Jaden said summoning out Trueman to the field (1900/1000). "Next I activate Trueman's special ability. I can take a card from either my opponent's deck or my own. In exchange Trueman can't attack the turn I use this effect." Jaden shuffled through his deck before taking a card out and then reshuffling his deck.

"Next I activate the spell card Sub-Space Battle" Jaden said. The surrounding area glowed a dark purplish-blue color. "Now each player takes three monsters from their decks and reveal them to each other one by one. The player who has the highest monster can add them to their hand while the weaker one is sent to the graveyard and the player with the weaker monster suffers 500 points of damage."

Both of them pulled their decks out and plucked three cards from their decks before reshuffling and putting their decks back in their disks. "Now behold my three monsters" Jaden said.

"And behold mine" Serenity said. All of their monsters appeared on the field with Serenity summoning out Shinto, King of a Higher Plane (ATK: 3300), Guardian Angel Joan (ATK: 2800) and Yamata Dragon (ATK: 2600).

Jaden's monsters also appeared and they were Darkness Neosphere (ATK: 4000), Nightshroud (ATK: 3750) and Mirage Neos (ATK: 2800).

It was clear that Jaden had the advantage "Darkness Neosphere, Dark Eye Attack." Darkness Neosphere struck Shinato. "Nightshroud, Dark Blast Attack." Nightshroud struck Guardian Angel Joan. "Mirage Neos, Cosmic Mirage Attack."

All three of Serenity's monsters were destroyed in a massive blast.

Jaden: 4000

Serenity: 2500

"I send my three monsters to the graveyard" Serenity said discarding her cards.

"And I add my three to my hand" Jaden said adding his cards to his hand. "Next I activate the card I got to my hand because of Truman; Dark Shroud Ritual."

"A Ritual Card" Serenity gasped.

"Yes" Jaden said as a portal of darkness appeared on the field surrounded by black totem poles. "And with it I'm going to summon out a new monster of mine. I send Darkness Neosphere from my hand to the graveyard and in return I summon out Nightshroud." Out of the dark portal appeared Nightshroud looking just the same as when Jaden defeated him only completely under control now (3750/3500).

"And with that I end my turn" Jaden said.

Serenity gulped slightly 'I didn't expect such a powerful monster and a ruthless strategy so soon in the game. He already sent my best monster's to the graveyard. I honestly don't have a monster in my deck that can stand up to that kind of power.'

Still with the bravest face she could Serenity said "My draw." Drawing her card she saw it was Monster Reborn; looking at her hand she widened her eyes slightly. 'This could work.' "Alright Jaden I play Monster Reborn to bring back Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." Shinato reappeared in a small flash of light (3300/3000). "Next I equip Shinato with Fairy King's Power." Her spell card showed a fairy monster accepting a golden glowing orb. "With this spell card I can increase one Fairy Monster's attack points by 700 and I give it to Shinato." Shinato glowed slightly and his attack points increased (4000/3000).

"Alright Serenity" Joey and Tristan cheered.

"Go mom/auntie" Thomas and Michael cheered from the trees.

"Shinato, attack his Trueman" Serenity ordered as Shinato charged an attack.

"I activate Nightshroud's special ability" Jaden said. "When I have more monsters on the field all monsters that attack have to attack Nightshroud before any others." Shinato's attack then changed to Nightshroud and the attack hit harshly destroying Nightshroud.

Jaden: 3750

Serenity: 2500

"She just took out the strongest monster he had on his field" Mai said. "And since he discarded that Darkness Neosphere card he doesn't have another monster that can equal Shinato in power. Serenity's got this."

"I wouldn't say that" Kaiba interjected. He ignored the curious looks and stared at Jaden; the boy didn't look scared, nervous or even afraid… just calm and collected.

"My turn then" Jaden said drawing a card. "I activate Cost Down" he said playing the spell card. "With it I discard one card from my hand." Jaden discarded Mirage Neos "And in return all monsters in my hand lose two levels for the rest of the turn. And since they lost two levels I only need to sacrifice Trueman in order to summon Elemental HERO Neos."

Jaden's signature monster appeared out on the field (2500/2000).

"But I'm not finished yet" Jaden said. He discarded one more card "But you are; I activate Super Polymerization." The entire area began to shake rapidly as the dimension itself seemed to warp around Jaden.

"Another fusion card" Yugi said surprised. "But how's he going to use it. His hand is empty and he only has one card on the field."

"I activate Super Polymerization and with it I get to fuse one monster on my side of the field with one monster on your side of the field" Jaden explained.

"What no way" Serenity gasped. "How could such a card exist?"

"The power of darkness created this card and it is that power that will end this duel" Jaden said. "Go Neos, fuse yourself with Shinato." Both Neos and Shinto were pulled into the air and fused together in a massive display of power. Out of that fusion appeared a brand new monster; a Neos monster with six large wings carrying a black staff while a headdress was atop Neos' head. The monster stood at a very tall, near colossal size (4500/3500).

"Say hello to the one and only Neo-Alius, King of Neo Space" Jaden said.

Serenity knew right then and there it was over; she had no spell or trap cards on the field and the ones in her hand wouldn't help her at all. Jaden saw this and ordered "Now King of Neo Space; attack with Royal Cosmic Wave."

Jaden's monster formed a massive ball of multi-colored energy before launching it. The attack hit Serenity head on and that was all she wrote.

Jaden: 3750

Serenity: 0

The monster on the field vanished leaving nothing, but silence. "Two turns… he won the duel in two turns" Mokuba said amazed.

"He just made Serenity look like a total amateur" Rebecca said just as shocked.

While amazed himself Yugi's mind was racing. 'It's as I thought. Jaden's powers are unique; as a duelist with that kind of power he is also a duelist with the power to control the spirits of duel monsters. So as such technically he could manipulate the cards in his deck as if they were arms and legs. Meaning he could possibly summon the right card he needs at any time during a duel.'

While sad that she lost the duel, and so easily at that, Serenity accepted the defeat. "Good duel Jaden" she said to him.

"Thank you" Jaden said simply.

"I think you're going to need this" she said handing him Shinato and the ritual card Shinato's Ark. "Call it a feeling."

"Thank you again" Jaden said taking the cards.

"No thank you and lots of luck in the finals" she said before walking off.

The MC, who until this point had been silent, spoke up. "With this duel over Jaden Yuki advances to the finals. There will be a half hour intermission and then the Final Round of the Ultimate Tournament will begin."

With that Jaden's golden eyes met with Reiner's silver ones and they both glared at one another with hatred. This was it; the final duel was about to begin.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	14. Chapter 14

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Fourteen)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Half an hour had passed all too quickly; Jaden had just gone into the hotel one last time to check on Jesse. His friend had still showed no signs of waking up, but his body was more stabilized, which was good news to Jaden because it showed that Jesse was fighting the light to keep his soul intact.

And with that he stepped out onto the field to face the duel that would decide the fate of this world. He and Reiner faced one another with glares on their faces. The MC stepped up "The Final match of the Ultimate Tournament will now begin; Jaden Yuki vs. Reiner. The Winner will be declared 'Ultimate Champion' and have the chance to duel the top three duelists Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto. Duelists bring out your Deck Masters."

Both Jaden and Reiner brought their Deck Master's out. Yubel and White Devil appeared on the field. "It's time Supreme King; I hope you're ready to join your loved ones in oblivion."

"I was gonna say the same to you, but then I remembered you have no friends" Jaden said coldly. "You live a sad, lonely pathetic life and that's all you'll ever have. Yourself and nobody; you were born alone and you're gonna die alone today."

Reiner scowled at Jaden "Less talk Supreme King and let's do this. Unleash your power." Reiner's body exploded in white energy and it began to take form around him and when it died away Reiner was in white armor with large shoulder armor with a blue mantle running down his waist.

"What the…" Joey gasped.

"Okay, more magic" Mai said surprised as well.

"Fine; so you want us to fight in our true forms, fine" Jaden said before his body released a black aura. The black aura took shape around him in a massive pillar before dying away. Jaden was now in black armor, with spiky shoulder armor, with gold trimmings around the armor with a long red cape going down his shoulders.

"Okay… so they're both in armor now" Tristan said blandly. "That makes perfect sense."

"They're fighting in their true forms" Yugi said getting their attention. "That's what Jaden said; this is their true forms. The forms their past lives fought in many eons ago. And that battle is about to take place again once more."

The battle of the Supreme King and the Transcendent Emperor!

Both Jaden and Reiner lifted their arms and new duel disks appeared from their powers. Jaden had his Dark Disk and Reiner had a Light Disk on his arm. Then both of them pulled out their decks and slammed them into their duel disks.

Both of them were glowing with white and black energy separately before drawing their five cards; the duel to decide to the fate of the world now began.

"GAME ON" they both shouted.

"Prepare to face a duel the likes of which you've ever seen before" Reiner said evilly. "Our powers are equal right now, but you'll see that the tide will turn just as simply. And I'll prove it like this" Reiner said drawing a card. "I summon White Leech." A huge white leech appeared on the field (500/700). "Attack his life points directly."

"What" Jaden gasped as White Leech shot forward and hit Jaden making him give a cry of pain.

Reiner: 4000

Jaden: 3500

"As you guessed White Leech allows me to attack my opponent as soon as it's summoned" Reiner said with smugness. "And I'm pretty sure you felt that attack didn't you; look at your body." Jaden looked at the spot that was hit and gasped when he saw he was bleeding. "This is real Supreme King."

"Okay, drawing blood; that's going over the line" Tea said with a sick look on her face.

"I've never seen a Shadow Game this real before" Yugi said with a wide eyed look on his face.

Jaden grunted and placed his hand over his abdomen and the wound was healed "Cheap tricks won't save you" he glared.

"No, but they'll kill you" Reiner smirked. "I end my turn with one card facedown."

"And it's my move now" Jaden said drawing a card. "Now feel the power of the Supreme King. I play Dark Fusion. And with it I fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in order to summon Evil HERO Inferno Wing." On the field one of Jaden's Evil HERO's made an appearance (2100/1200).

"Ah, if isn't one of the Supreme King's Evil HERO's, one of Nine if I remember correctly" Reiner said. "The most trusted of all the Supreme King's followers; dubbed as the 'Nine Defenders.'"

"And you're about to feel the burn of one of them" Jaden glared. "Inferno Wing attack his White Leech."

"Before you do that I activate a trap card" Reiner interrupted.

"You fool, monsters summoned with Dark Fusion are unaffected by trap cards on the turn they are summoned" Jaden shouted at him.

"That's why I'm not using it on your monster" Reiner said making Jaden gasp slightly. "My trap card is White Seal of the Emperor." The trap card depicted a summoning seal with white energy coming out of it "Since you used a spell card this turn I can activate this trap card. What it does is remove that spell card from your graveyard from play permanently." Dark Fusion was ejected from Jaden's graveyard and destroyed "And for the remainder of the duel you are forbidden from using that card."

"What, I can't use Dark Fusion" Jaden shouted.

"Exactly, which means summoning your sacred guardians, the Evil HERO's, is now out of your reach" Reiner said victoriously.

"That's not good; that's really not good" Syrus said nervously.

"No kidding; with one trap card he just eliminated 1/3 of Jaden's monsters" Chazz said. "Those Evil HERO's are known for quick beat downs and fast victories. Without Dark Fusion they're useless."

"Not quite guys" Jim said getting their attention. "Jaden can still summon the Evil HERO's. He's got another card that can let him do it." Chazz and Syrus frowned before turning their attention back to the duel.

'My King' Inferno Wing said to him silently.

"…" Jaden said nothing. "You've served me faithfully for a long time Inferno Wing. Now show me your loyalty once more and attack him."

'Yes my King' Inferno Wing replied before charging forward with a battle cry. She attacked Reiner's White Leech and destroyed it, but her effect didn't activate.

"What, why didn't Inferno Wing's effect activate" Jaden demanded.

Reiner chuckled sinisterly "White Leech's special ability. When he's destroyed by battle the monster that destroyed him cannot activate their effects."

Jaden grunted slightly "Fine then, I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"That's all you can do; how amateurish" Reiner said drawing a card. "Thanks to my Deck Master special ability I can summon level 5 and 6 monsters without sacrifice. So I summon White Sorceress to the field." On the field appeared White Sorceress (2100/1500).

"They're exactly even" Kaiba said looking at both monsters. "Now what will Reiner do?"

"Next I activate the spell card White Burning attack" Reiner said. "This magic card increases White Sorceress' attack points by 500." White Sorceress' attack points went up by 500 (2100+500=2600/1500). "Now White Sorceress attack his Inferno Wing."

White Sorceress launched a ball of white energy that enveloped Inferno Wing destroying her. 'I'm sorry my faithful servant' Jaden apologized. 'Your sacrifice will not go unpaid.'

Reiner: 4000

Jaden: 3000

"And now your servant is gone forever" Reiner smirked.

"So you think" Jaden responded. "I activate my trap card; Inferno Payback." The trap depicted Inferno Wing launching a fireball from her fists. "The trap activates when Inferno Wing is destroyed by battle or by monster effect. The monster that destroyed it is also destroyed so say goodbye to your White Sorceress."

White Sorceress exploded in a mighty explosion making Reiner grunt and glare at Jaden.

"That's not all; I activate my other facedown card Evil HERO Retribution" Jaden said. This trap card showed Inferno Wing and Lightning Golem back to back with one covering the other. "Since you destroyed an Evil HERO fusion monster on my side of the field I can summon to field another Evil HERO Fusion monster without Dark Fusion as long as that monster is the same level as the one that was destroyed."

"GRR" Reiner growled.

"So come forth and aid your king; Evil HERO Lightning Golem" Jaden shouted. On the field the evil version of Thunder Giant appeared on the field (2400/1500).

"Whoo-hoo alright Jaden" Syrus cheered.

"Nice move; he's got a monster back on the field" Joey said with a grin.

"Not only that, but Reiner will be defenseless on Jaden's next turn" Yugi said.

"Just because you made one lucky move doesn't mean you'll win Supreme King; I place one card facedown and end my turn" Reiner snarled at him.

"My move then" Jaden said drawing a card. "Lightning Golem attack his life points directly." Lightning Golem roared and formed a large ball of lightning before launching it at Reiner where it hit head on making Reiner growl in anger and slight pain.

Jaden: 3000

Reiner: 1600

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn" Jaden said. "So you see now Reiner; just because you eliminated my Dark Fusion doesn't mean you've eliminated my Evil HERO's. Not as long as my HERO's remain loyal to me. As long as their loyalty remains then you will never be rid of them, NEVER."

Reiner growled angrily while Jaden and Yugi's friend cheered "That's right Jaden, show this creep not to mess with our world" Joey cheered.

"You may have another monster on the field, but it won't save you" Reiner shouted drawing a card. His malicious smirk widened "And I'll show you my power. Since White Sorceress is in the graveyard I can summon White Princess without sacrificing." On the field the White Princess appeared on the field (2800/2700). "Now my White Princess attack."

White Princess launched a ball of white energy that hit Lightning Golem destroying it in a flash of energy. Jaden winced again as another injury hit him.

Jaden: 2600

Reiner: 1600

"It seems the loyalty of your precious Evil HERO's only lasts one turn" Reiner mocked him.

"Let me prove you wrong; I activate Black Lightning" Jaden said revealing a trap card. The trap depicted Lightning Golem with hands charged with black lightning. "This trap activates when Lightning Golem is destroyed in battle. First I get to summon Elemental HERO Sparkman back to the field." Sparkman appeared back on the field (1600/1400) and the monster that destroyed Lightning Golem loses 800 attack points."

A bolt of black lightning shot out and hit White Princess making her wince as she lost points (2800-800=2000/2700).

"Still think my Evil HERO's only last one turn" Jaden mocked in return.

"Laugh it up while you can Supreme King; it won't last long" Reiner sneered at him. "I place one card facedown."

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Jaden drew two cards and widened his eyes.

"Draw as many cards as you want; in the end it will do nothing for you" Reiner sneered at him again.

"So you say; watch this" Jaden sneered in return. "I play Polymerization and fuse together my Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Wildheart in order to summon out Elemental HERO Wild Wingman." A monster looking like Wildheart with Avian's wings appeared on the field (1900/2300).

"And just what can you do with that weak monster; I'll answer that for you, NOTHING" Reiner roared.

"Eat your words Transcendent Emperor" Jaden shouted in return. "I activate the facedown card De-Fusion." Jaden's facedown card was revealed "Now Wild Wingman is defused into the original monsters used to summon it." With that Avian (1000/1000) and Wildheart (1500/1600) appeared on the field. "And now I have three monsters out on the field."

"Three weak monsters means nothing… unless" Reiner widened his eyes in horror.

"Unless I plan on summoning another monster, which I will since I can still do it this turn" Jaden smirked. "I sacrifice Elemental HERO Avian, Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Wildheart to summon the almighty Wicked Dreadroot."

All the light vanished and only darkness remained as the skies turned pitch black and golden lightning began to reign down from the skies. One struck behind Jaden and out of the lightning bolt emerged The Wicked Dreadroot with a massive roar of absolute power (4000/4000).

"The Wicked Dreadroot; he summoned it" Kaiba said wide eyed looking at the massive monster. Reiner was also wide eyed and angry as well.

"He summoned The Wicked Dreadroot; how could I let this happen" Reiner growled.

"Your arrogance and your madness in destroying all life was your undoing" Jaden said. "Now feel the wrath of Dreadroot's special ability; Divine Dividing." White Princess gave a scream as her powers were cut completely in half (2000-1000=1000/2700-1350=1350). "And now that Dreadroot is back under my control he will end you and your madness."

"NEVER" Reiner roared.

'My King, let me destroy him so we can reclaim our brother' Dreadroot implored to him.

"Very well" Jaden said. "Dreadroot attack; Fist of Darkness." Dreadroot roared as his fist glowed with black energy before sending the punch towards White Princess.

"Not so fast Supreme King" Reiner shouted. "I activate a facedown card; Wicked Face-off." The spell card showed The Wicked Dreadroot facing off against Obelisk the Tormentor. "I can activate this card when you attack me with a Divine-Beast monster. Now I can summon out a Divine-Beast of my own and they'll do battle with one another."

"Oh no, that means" Serenity gasped.

"Say hello to The Wicked Avatar" Reiner shouted as The Wicked Avatar appeared on the field (?/?). "And as you know The Wicked Avatar's attack and defense points are automatically 100 points higher than the strongest monster on the field." The Wicked Avatar's attack points rose dramatically (4100/4100). "Now destroy The Wicked Dreadroot."

The Wicked Avatar expanded in size and completely enveloped The Wicked Dreadroot in a massive explosion making Jaden wince from the backlash, but still stood like nothing happened.

Jaden: 2500

Reiner: 1600

Jaden could feel The Wicked Avatar's anger and frustration. 'My King… I am so sorry' he heard.

'Avatar… do not despair, soon you will be back with your brethren' Jaden told the spirit of The Wicked Avatar mentally. Seeing his hand was empty as was his field Jaden sighed "I have no choice, but to end my turn."

Reiner chuckled menacingly "It's the end for you Supreme King; because of Wicked Face-Off's effect The Wicked Avatar goes to the graveyard." The Wicked Avatar vanished from the field "And now it's the beginning of the end for you." Reiner drew a card and smirked "Due to White Devil's special ability I summon White Bowman to the field." On the field an archer man in white clothing with a quiver of arrows on his back and a large white bow in his hand appeared on the field (2300/2000). "Now Bowman attack his life points directly."

The monster loaded an arrow and shot it; the arrow sailed through the air gaining white energy around it before hitting Jaden right in the chest making him give a cry of pain as the arrow pierced through is armor and into his body. Jaden winced as he felt the arrow pierce through his skin, muscle and bone.

Reiner: 1600

Jaden: 200

"JADEN" everyone shouted as Jaden fell to one knee clutching his injured torso panting harshly.

SCENE CHANGE

Inside the infirmary Jesse continued to sleep as his mind was trying to recover from his ordeal, but then his ears heard "JADEN" from a multitude of voices.

"Ja…den" he whispered. Jesse's brow twitched before his eyes opened up. 'Where am I? Last thing I remember is…' Jesse's eyes widened as he remembered his duel with Reiner and the agony he felt when being attacked by The Wicked Avatar. 'That's right' he thought before looking at his surroundings 'I guess I lost… that means…' Jesse widened his eyes "JADEN" he shouted shooting up in bed only to wince heavily as pain hit him.

Pulling his oxygen mask off his face and pulling off the machines hooked to his body Jesse pulled his body out of bed "I can't… stay in this bed. My best friend… needs me" Jesse grunted pushing himself up. Trying to walk he nearly fell only to grab the nearby desk. "Come on body… move" he urged his tired body to move.

Getting to the halls Jesse pushed his body further and further until he saw the duel arena outside. Panting Jesse almost made it to the door before grasping onto it. Seeing Jaden on the ground clutching his torso made Jesse widen his eyes. Pushing the door open Jesse called out "Jaden."

All eyes widened as they turned to Jesse "Jesse" Chazz said shocked.

"Jesse's awake" Jim said just as shocked. Jaden was especially wide eyed as Jesse limped his way out panting tiredly.

"Come on Jay, don't give in" Jesse called to him. "Everything may look bleak, but everyone is here with you; even if they're bodies aren't the memory of everyone is always with you, ALWAYS." Jaden's eyes were wide as he heard Jesse's words before a new fire exploded in his eyes. Even though they weren't here right now the memories of them were.

Axel, Aster and Alexis were all around him giving him encouraging smiles and nods "Do it Jaden" they all said before vanishing.

Jaden stood up, his wound healing, before his body released even more darkness energy, so much so that the light that had begun to surround the area had begun to recede. "You cannot defeat me Transcendent Emperor; as long as I have the support of my friends and loved ones I will never fall."

"Spare me your bull about friendship" Reiner said coldly. "I have no use for it."

"Then perhaps you'll have use for this" Jaden said drawing a card. "Go spell card; Card of Sanctity, now we both draw until he have six cards in our hand." Reiner drew four cards while Jaden drew all six cards. Looking at his hand Jaden plucked a single card from it. "I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode" he said. Clayman appeared on the field (800/2000). "Next I move Yubel to the field." Yubel appeared on the field in attack mode (0/0).

"He moved his Deck Master onto the field" Jim said after helping Jesse into a chair Syrus had brought for him.

"What's he thinking" Joey said. "His Deck Master could be destroyed and he'll lose the duel."

"I don't think so" Kaiba said. "Yubel's special ability means all battle damage becomes zero for Jaden and its rebounded back to Reiner. If Yubel is attacked Reiner will be destroyed."

"I end my turn and I sacrifice Clayman in order to keep Yubel on the field" Jaden said as Clayman vanished and Yubel stayed on the field.

"Ah Yubel, the Guardian of the Supreme King" Reiner said. "Once an innocent girl turned into a monster in order to protect the Supreme King. How I've longed to destroy you." Yubel glared at Reiner.

"Try it" Jaden said. "You attack Yubel and all damage goes to you."

"So you think" Reiner smirked. "I play the spell card White Cosmic Hole." This spell card depicted white waves traveling through space through an infinite white hole. "With this card I merely sacrifice one monster on my field and 500 life points." White Bowman vanished off the field and Reiner lost life points.

Reiner: 1100

Jaden: 200

"And in exchange one monster on your field is destroyed" Reiner said victoriously as Yubel exploded. Reiner laughed "Yes and since Yubel was your deck master you lost the duel, I win Supreme King."

"Wrong" Jaden said making Reiner stop immediately. "What you've done is just unleash an even stronger monster" he said as the remains of Yubel converged together and formed an even more massive monster; this one looking like a massive two headed dragon with a sideways eye on the chest (0/0). "Say hello to Yubel – Terror Incarnate."

"What, but how" Reiner demanded.

"When Yubel is removed from the field her special ability activates" Jaden said. "That special ability is an ability that summons Yubel – Terror incarnate from my deck. As per dueling rules Yubel – Terror Incarnate becomes my new Deck Master."

Reiner sneered at him "You think you've got a lead; I don't think so. Due to White Devil's special ability I summon White Machine in attack mode." White Machine appeared on the field (2100/2000). "Then I place one card facedown."

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. "Terror Incarnate attack his White Machine."

"Good move; even if he attacks all damage will be transferred to Reiner" Mai said. Terror Incarnate's eyes glowed and an orange beam shot at White Machine.

"Don't act so smug; I play a facedown card" Reiner countered. "White Alchemy." The facedown depicted two alchemists surrounding a summoning circle. "With it I sacrifice White Machine and his body is turned into pure white energy. Energy that launches at your Terror Incarnate and destroys it." White Machine vanished and turned into energy, which launched at Terror Incarnate and destroyed it. "Now you lose."

"So you think" Jaden said with a smirk of his own. "All you've done is pave the way for something almighty. When Terror Incarnate is destroyed The Ultimate Nightmare is upon you." Now a new monster graced the field; this monster was dragon in shape with two heads, a bipedal dragon body with a demonic face on the chest (0/0).

"Okay, I have seen some creepy monsters in my life, but that ugly mug takes the cake" Joey said with a shudder.

"And it probably ate it too" Triston added.

"To end my turn I place one card facedown and move Yubel – The Ultimate Nightmare off the field" Jaden said calmly. "Your move."

Reiner growled at Jaden's calmness "I'm sick of you; it's time I end this. I activate the spell card Transcendent Emperor's Light of Destruction." This spell card depicted a monster that looked exactly like himself holding a ball of light in his hand. "With this card I just sacrifice half of my life points and then I can summon my most wicked monster; White Dragon of Destruction."

Reiner: 550

Jaden: 200

Reiner roared as white energy bounced off his body and surrounded the entire area obliterating the darkness around the area. Then out of the light a massive dragon that stood over 50 stories high appeared with four wings, two tails and massive horns appeared on the field. Reiner laughed insanely as he merged with the monster and both of them roared (5000/5000).

Jaden stared in wide eyed shock at the massive monster; there was no monster in his deck that could defeat that behemoth. 'I wouldn't say that' a voice in his head said. Jaden gasped as suddenly instead of in a duel he was in a dark world alone with the Three Wicked Gods.

"It's you" he gasped.

"My King there is a way to defeat that creature of the light" The Wicked Deadroot said.

"But it will take our combined form" The Wicked Eraser added.

"All three of us" The Wicked Avatar finished.

"You know what you must do my king" they all said before a gold light enveloped Jaden and Jaden found himself back during the duel.

"You're shell shocked Supreme King" Reiner mocked. "Good, now you can die instead; attack my dragon." His monster roared and launched a massive ray of white light at Jaden.

"Oh no, if he doesn't stop this he's going to lose" Syrus shouted.

"I activate a trap card; Negate Attack" Jaden said activating the card. The attack his the barrier protecting Jaden from his trap card and absorbed it making quite a few breathe a sigh of relief.

"I will make you pay for that" Reiner hissed at Jaden.

"No you won't" Jaden said simply. "Because this is the final turn of the duel." Jaden drew his final card and looked at it before smirking. "I play Monster Reborn and with it I bring back The Wicked Dreadroot." The Wicked Dreadroot appeared back on the field (4000/4000).

"What, no then…" Reiner gasped as The Wicked Dreadroot's Divine Dividing ability kicked in (5000-2500=2500/5000-2500=2500). "NO, this can't be happening."

"Oh no, I won't let it end that easily" Jaden said coldly. "I'm going to make sure you never return again so with that I'm going to bring out the most powerful entity this entire universe. And it starts with me activating Dark God Coming" Jaden said. This spell card depicted the rising of The Wicked Eraser "With this card, as long as I have The Wicked Dreadroot on the field I can summon to the field for one turn, The Wicked Eraser."

"Impossible" Mokuba gasped.

"Another Wicked God" Kaiba said shocked.

Jaden summoned the Wicked Eraser onto the field and the second Wicked God Card appeared (X000/X000). "The Wicked Eraser's attack points are determined by the amount of cards you're holding in your hand and I count 5." The Wicked Eraser's attack points rose (5000/5000). "But like I said that won't matter because I activate my final spell card Wicked Returning." This spell card depicted The Wicked Dreadroot returning from a massive hole of light and darkness. "Like all other spell cards involving the Wicked God's they allow me to bring back a Wicked God from either graveyard for one turn."

"What, you're taking my Wicked Avatar" Reiner shouted.

"It's not yours anymore" Jaden said as The Wicked Avatar ejected itself from Reiner's graveyard and into Jaden's hand. "It's back where it belongs and even when you had it you never could unleash its true power."

"What" Reiner shouted.

"All you could unleash was The Wicked Avatar's basic sphere form, the picture on the card" Jaden said coldly. "When The Wicked Avatar is summoned the text of darkness appears and only those connected to the Supreme King can decipher that text."

"Impossible, I studied that card from top to bottom; I know all its secrets" Reiner shouted desperately.

"Being the host of The Light of Destruction you could never decipher it" Jaden said in an even colder voice. "Now I will recite the 'Chant of Darkness' and show you the true form of The Wicked Avatar and end this madness once and for all."

"If what he says is true I'm in trouble" Reiner grunted in fear and anger with his eye twitching sporadically.

Jaden held the card in front of his face as hid body glowed with an outline of dark energy with his eyes closed. Then he began to chant:

Great enemy of the light

Please join my fight

Transform thyself from orb of night

And bring me victory in this plight

With a mind more powerful than a sage

Prepare thyself and cast my foes thy rage

I beseech thee, bring forth your ultimate power

For this battle shall be our greatest hour

Now grace our presence in this ultimate game

But first I shall call out thy name

"WICKED AVATAR" Jaden roared as he finished chanting. Slamming the card onto his duel disk it sparked erratically before the orb form of The Wicked Avatar appeared. Then the glow around it shattered revealing a metallic looking circle.

Then the circle began to unfold and spread out before finally the glow vanished completely revealing The Wicked Avatar in its true form. Its true form was that of a bipedal dragon with a large body, muscular arms with claws on the end, large wings and a dragon face with large spiked horns on top of its head. A red jewel was in the center of the head as the monster roared loudly.

Everyone was gaping in absolute awe "Unbelievable" Mai gasped.

"He played all three Wicked God's at once" Kaiba said also gaping as he was reminded of when Pharaoh Atem did the same against Yugi so long ago.

Reiner now knew what it was like to face true fear as he stared into the eyes of the Three Wicked God Monsters. "Now to put an end to this madness once and for all; I am going to summon up the very being that created the Wicked God Cards."

"What" everyone shouted in absolute shock.

"The Wicked God's were spawned by the original God of Darkness and with his power I will now banish the Light of Destruction to the farthest corners of the universe" Jaden plucked one last card from his hand. "I sacrifice The Wicked Dreadroot, The Wicked Eraser and The Wicked Avatar."

All three Wicked God's vanished in a furry of darkness and converged into the air before combing into one forming a massive portal and out of the portal a massive primordial being appeared. The being stood even larger than all Wicked God Cards. The Monster was wearing a massive black headdress and had twelve massive black wings on its body while wearing ancient armor of darkness (∞/∞).

"This is the original one: The Creator God of Darkness, Tenebris" Jaden said.

"N-NO, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING; I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED AGAIN" Reiner roared.

"You have no choice; attack, Dark Armageddon" Jaden roared. Tenebris listed a single finger and launched a massive beam of dark energy at Reiner. It hit him and his dragon and both of them screamed as the power of darkness vaporized him.

The light vanished and so did Tenebris as the threat was finally gone. "We did it" Jaden whispered to Yubel.

"You did it" she told him with a smile. Jaden sighed with relief and resealed his powers with his body transforming back to normal. There were three flashes of light and when they vanished they revealed Axel, Aster and Alexis.

"Guys" they all called running over them as they all began to wake up. Jim got to Axel and helped him up while Chazz got to Aster. Jaden immediately ran to Alexis and held her in his arms with tears of happiness and relief in them.

"Jaden" she groaned slightly opening her eyes. Jaden said nothing, but continued to hug her with tears of happiness in his eyes. The others watching got small smiles on their faces as well.

"The kid did it; for a moment I didn't think he'd be able to pull it off" Joey said softly. "Guess you were right Yugi, Pegasus. It's the next generation's time to save the world."

"Like I said Joey-boy" Pegasus said speaking up after a long time of keeping silent. "You just got to have faith."

Yugi nodded in agreement "Well Kaiba, I guess we better congratulate the winner." Kaiba nodded and they moved towards Jaden only to stop when an eerie light got their attention. Then evil laughter got their attention as they saw a bright white light coming from the ground.

"What the…" Jaden gasped. "No, no, no, no, NO" he growled.

"Madness take life, creatures be born, now let's see how well you play this game when the monsters are real" Reiner's voice said as from the light a massive creature began to appear.

"Monster's… for real" Jesse said shocked.

"Uh oh" Syrus said nervously.

"It is no longer time to duel Supreme King, now it is time to die" Reiner growled as his form too the shape of a massive white tiger. Turning to Jaden the beast launched a large ray of white flames. Jaden barely pulled Alexis out of the way as the beam hit the hotel behind them destroying a good portion of it.

"Nothing in your decks of cards can save you now" Reiner snarled at him as a blast of energy shot at Jaden and struck his duel disk making him cover his eyes from the light. The blast didn't damage him, but sent every card from his deck flying out sporadically. "It appears you are one card short Supreme King."

"Yeah, but we're not" Jesse said grabbing his duel disk. He shared nods with the others and all of them grabbed their duel disks and pulled out their own cards "ATTACK."

"Rainbow Knight" Jesse shouted.

"Armed Dragon LV 10" Chazz shouted.

"Cyber Laser Dragon" Syrus shouted.

"Volcanic Doomfire" Axel shouted.

"Gaia Plate the Earth Giant" Jim shouted.

"Destiny HERO – Plasma" Aster shouted.

"Cyber Angel – Mahakala" Alexis shouted.

All seven monsters came to life and flew at Reiner and struck at his body rapidly "Be gone" he roared at them before launching another beam of white energy at all seven of the monsters and destroying them, with the beam launching even further and striking the other side of the island creating a large explosion.

"You fools have no concept of my power and now the destruction of this universe is at hand" Reiner shouted as his massive tiger body continued to grow until it was bigger than the entire area standing so tall they couldn't see the top.

Jaden was hastily looking through his cards "Jaden what are you doing" Syrus shouted to him.

"Trying to find the card that can beat him" Jaden shouted before finally finding the card. 'Yes' he thought before standing up. "Alright Reiner, it's time to get real with The Wicked Avatar." Using his power of darkness Jaden began to bring the card to life. Reiner saw him and began to build up another attack "Dark Desolation Attack" Jaden shouted.

The Wicked Avatar came to life shooting up into the air stopping Reiner's attack mid-charge. "If the monsters are real so are all their powers including this God's ability to be stronger than any monster" Jaden shouted at Reiner. The Wicked Avatar began to take on its true form, but Reiner launched a massive attack at it. "DESTROY REINER" Jaden called.

A massive blast of darkness shot from The Wicked Avatar and it enveloped Reiner "NO" he screamed. His body began to burn with dark fire as he released another roaring scream and fell on his knees with his body melting apart. Glaring up at The Wicked Avatar he attempted to reach out, but the power of darkness was too much and the arm melted off. Reiner's body began to melt away as he cursed something at Jaden in another language before the light melted all away revealing his skeleton that weakly tried to reach out before that too went limp and completely bristled away.

The Wicked Avatar was all that was left as the magnificent God released one last victorious roar before vanishing in a flurry of darkness and shooting into the sky. Without a doubt everyone now knew that the battle was truly over.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	15. Chapter 15

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Fifteen)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Night had befallen Kaiba Island and Jaden was currently lying asleep in bed sweaty, tired and absolutely glowing; next to him was his equally radiant, glowing and sweaty fiancé Alexis. It was clear what the both of them had done.

After the final defeat of Reiner Jaden couldn't remember much; all he could really remember was that he was grabbed onto by pretty much everyone with so many cheers going around the area. He finally came back to reality when he was saved by Kaiba of all people who ordered Jaden to go and get some rest.

Jaden didn't know what possessed him, but he asked "Why?"

Kaiba's response was like a hammer to the gut "Because you need to be rested for your duels tomorrow. You may be crowned champion, but if you want a real title then you have to defeat us." He, of course, was referring to himself, Joey and Yugi.

But Jaden did nothing that made him relax as he took Alexis with him back to their room, which remained intact even after Reiner's final attack. He didn't respond at all to her calling his name and when they finally got to the room he practically threw her on the bed and kissed her.

Alexis was so caught off guard that she could do nothing, but lie there as Jaden pinned her down and kissed her so roughly. His hands touched and groped every part of her body and all Alexis could do was moan and give tiny whimpers at his rough, pleasurable treatments.

When she finally managed to breathe for a moment she saw Jaden's face properly. Just by looking into his eyes she could see how truly distraught he must have been to see her vanish like that. The emotion he was going through just to be able to hold her like this again must have driven him overboard. Immediately after thinking that Alexis surrendered herself to him in mind, body and soul.

That night they made love to each other so passionately that everything else just melded away from their minds except each other.

Jaden didn't wake up until ten o'clock the next morning and when he did he had never felt so refreshed and so at peace with himself. Looking to his right he saw his oh so beautiful fiancé Alexis curled up next to him with her head resting on his chest and her arm draped across his torso.

Smiling at her glowing face Jaden placed a single kiss on her forehead before gently getting out of bed without disturbing Alexis. The sun was shining softly through the window and once more Jaden had a perfect view of the ocean. Putting his pants on Jaden stared out at the ocean for a bit.

Remembering a bit of yesterday Jaden went to his deck and plucked three cards from them; the Wicked God's. 'I never would've guessed. A set of God cards for myself' he thought staring at the three cards.

Yubel appeared next to him in spirit form "Like the Legendary Pharaoh Atem, who was the chosen King of Ancient Egypt that could control the Egyptian God's. You are the Supreme King who controls all darkness; the God's of Darkness obey you and you alone until you eventually hand off the power to your descendants."

Once more Jaden stared at the three cards before smiling. "Past, present, or future… either way with the world now safe from the light… I have one more target left… before I can finally live in peace." An image of the most powerful duelist in the world came to Jaden's mind.

A small yawn interrupted Jaden from his thoughts as he saw Alexis waking up. Walking back over to her he sat on the bed. Yawning once more Alexis opened her hazel eyes that Jaden loved so much "Good morning Jaden" she said sleepily.

"Morning" Jaden said with love before leaning down and giving her a kiss. Of course the simple good morning kiss began to evolve into, what looked like, a morning shag. Then there was a knock on the door making them both look up sharply. "I'll get it" he told her.

Alexis got up and went to the bathroom with a new set of clothes while Jaden grabbed a simple black wife-beater shirt and put it on. When he answered the door he was surprised at who responded "Mr. Pegasus" he said.

"Good morning Jaden-boy" Pegasus said with his usual smile and exuberance. "I trust you slept well."

"Better than I have the last couple nights" Jaden admitted.

"That's good" Pegasus said with a small nod. "I stopped by because I wanted to personally congratulate you Jaden. The will power you displayed and dueling you did has far outshined anyone I have seen. Not since my own duel with Yugi Muto have I ever seen such strength of will."

Jaden blushed slightly "Thanks Mr. Pegasus" he said with a sheepish grin.

"But more than that" Pegasus said. "I admired that you kept on dueling not only for the world, but for your own lover as well. It's rare nowadays to see a duelist with such passion in their hearts."

"Yeah, well… what was I supposed to do" Jaden said softly. "She's been with me through a lot and probably the only woman, besides my mother, who truly loves me for me."

Once more Pegasus smiled reminded of his own dear love. "That's a response I wanted to hear" Pegasus said before reaching into his jacket. Jaden looked curious as Pegasus pulled out a small black book. "I think these will come in handy for you; after all only a true hero can wield heroes of legend."

Jaden looked confused before accepting the black book "Thanks Mr. Pegasus… I'll do my best." Pegasus gave him one more smile before departing. When he did Jaden shut the door and looked at the black book that was given to him. Opening it up Jaden's eyes widened to near impossible proportions at the contents.

"Jaden" Alexis called to him nearly making him jump. Closing the book he turned back to her "Who was at the door?"

"It was Mr. Pegasus" Jaden replied. "He wanted to congratulate me and… he gave me a gift."

"What kind of gift" she asked curiously.

"I think it'll be all the sweeter when I show them off in a duel" Jaden said with a grin making Alexis pout slightly. Jaden laughed slightly at her expression before smiling "But before we get back into Duel Monsters I want to show you something." He ushered her over to his computer "Something I wanted to show you after your last duel."

Alexis leaned over his shoulder as Jaden typed on his computer before he brought up what he was looking for. Alexis gasped "Atlantis Paradise; I've always wanted to go there ever since I was a little girl."

"I'm glad to hear that" Jaden said with a smile. "Because two weeks from now… I've got us booked on a seven day stay there; honeymoon suite."

Alexis gasped with her hands covering her mouth. Tears made their way to her eyes "Oh Jaden" she said happily before kissing him. They say rarely do a man and woman ever find their one true soul mates, but at this moment Alexis truly realized that right now she was with her one true soul mate. This man would be the only man she would ever love; Jaden Yuki.

ONE HOUR LATER

This was the moment everyone was waiting for; the chance that only came around once in a lifetime. The winner of Kaiba's Ultimate Tournament would now get to face off against the top three duelists in the entire world.

They had moved to a brand new area now. Now everyone stood atop a dueling arena atop the tallest mountain on Kaiba Island. Jaden and his friends were on one side and everyone else was on the other side. Cameras were all around them focusing on them as this was being broadcasted all around the world.

Currently both Jaden and Joey were standing in their designated spots with their duel disks ready. Kaiba then addressed them both "Today on Kaiba Island we could possibly be facing history. Jaden Yuki, the winner of my Ultimate Tournament will now have the chance to make history. The duel that he will participate in will be against the 3rd best duelist in the entire world; Joey Wheeler. Should Jaden be victorious he will get a chance to face me in a duel. If by a miracle he wins then he will have a chance to face Yugi Muto. We'll see how far he goes; the first duel will now begin."

Joey and Jaden walked out into the middle of the field and handed their decks to one another before they began to shuffle. "Well it's time for the finale to begin" Joey said to Jaden. "Hope you're ready."

"I can say the same to you" Jaden countered as they finished shuffling. Handing the decks back to their owners Joey and Jaden walked back to their own side of the field. Both of them activated their duel disks and faced one another. Kaiba had already informed Jaden that these three duels wouldn't be like the previous duels. There would be no deck master and no ante rules.

On the sidelines everyone was beside themselves with absolute excitement as a great duel was about to commence.

"GAME ONE" Joey and Jaden called to one another. "I think I'll start this out" Joey said drawing a card. Looking at his hand he smirked "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode." On the field appeared a small black dragon inside an egg shell (800/500). "He's cute ain't he, but he won't be around for long. All I have to do is send him to the graveyard and I can summon his daddy. Say hello to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon." On the field Joey's chick vanished and in its place appeared the signature card of Joey's deck (2400/2000).

"The Red-Eyes Black Dragon" Jaden whispered quietly remembering when he faced this card before. It was powerful and tough.

"And to end my turn I place one card facedown" Joey said placing his card down. "You're move Jaden."

"My move" Jaden drew a card. "I activate Polymerization. "With it I fuse together Elemental HERO Ocean and Elemental HERO Woodsman in order to summon Elemental HERO Terra Firma." On the field a brand new HERO monster of Jaden's appeared with a mighty grunt of power (2500/2000).

"Oh wow, it's another new hero" Syrus said excited.

"Terra Firma attack his Red-Eyes Black Dragon" Jaden ordered.

Joey gave a tiny smirk "Nice try Jaden, but I knew you'd summon a fusion monster to combat my red eyes, which is why I had this card handy." He revealed his facedown card "Go Metalmorph."

"Oh boy" Jaden said nervously.

"Oh yeah, with Metalmorph equipped to my Red-Eyes I can tribute it and summon out my Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon." Joey's Red-Eyes transformed into a more metallic looking monster that was even more powerful than Terra Firma (2800/2400). "Now counterattack, Flash Flare Blast."

Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon launched a blast that hit Terra Firma and destroyed it in a mighty explosion.

Joey: 4000

Jaden: 3700

'Just what I'd expect' Jaden thought. "Pretty good, but I'm not done yet. I summon Neo-Spacian Glow Moss in defense mode." Jaden's Neo Spacian appeared on the field crouched down (300/900). "And to end my turn I place one card facedown."

Joey drew a card and looked at his options 'Hmm, one monster and one facedown card. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing earned' he thought. "Red-Eyes, attack his Glow Moss now."

Jaden smirked "You've activated Glow Moss' special ability."

Joey scowled slightly "I knew it" he muttered to himself.

"When Glow Moss is attacked you draw one card and depending on what type of card it is will depend on what happens" Jaden explained to Joey. "So go ahead and draw your card."

Joey reached to his deck and drew a card "I drew Rocket Warrior." Joey showed him the Rocket Warrior card.

"And since you drew a monster card your battle phase comes to an end" Jaden said. The attack of Red-Eyes disappeared leaving Glow Moss unharmed. "Oh well, better luck next time."

"Heh, nice save, but it won't help you next time" Joey said placing one card facedown and ending his turn.

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Jaden drew his two cards and looked at his hand with a smirk. "I activate my facedown card; Miracle Contact. With this I can send certain monsters back to my deck and in return I can summon a fusion monster. I send Glow Moss back to my deck along with the Neo-Spacian Dark Panther and Elemental HERO Neos in my hand in order to summon a new monster. Go Triple contact fusion." All three monsters appeared briefly before jumping into the air and converging together. "Show yourself; Elemental HERO Chaos Neos." On the field one of Jaden's most powerful Neos monster's appeared (3000/2500).

Joey looked at the powerful monster 'Come on attack me and my Red-Eyes will dominate.'

"Now I activate Chaos Neos' special ability" Jaden said. He pulled a quarter from his pocket "Chaos Neos' ability revolve around me flipping a coin; depending how many times I get heads depends on what happens. I flip it three times; if I get heads once all monsters on my field return to my hand, if I get heads twice then all your monster effects are negated for the rest of the turn and if I get heads three times then all monsters on your field are destroyed."

"Gutsy move" Tea commented. "He's relying on luck."

"Reminds you of someone doesn't it" Triston smirked a bit as he looked at Joey.

"Here goes nothing" Jaden said flipping a coin. It landed in his hand revealing it to be heads "That's one" he said. Jaen flipped it a second time and it landed on heads once more "That's two" he smirked. Joey narrowed his eyes as Jaden flipped the coin once more where it landed. Joey's eyes widened while Jaden smirked "And that's three; Chaos Neos, do your thing."

Chaos Neos spread his wings and spectral bats flew at Red-Eyes Metal Dragon and destroyed it. "And the best part is that Chaos Neos can still attack; go attack his life points directly." Chaos Neos launched the same attack once more and it struck Joey directly.

Jaden: 3700

Joey: 1000

"Joey/Dad" both Mai and Michael shouted seeing Joey blasted.

"And to end my move I play Contact Out" Jaden said. "Defuse Chaos Neos." Chaos Neos defused himself into Elemental HERO Neos (2500/2000), Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (1000/500) and Neo-Spacian Glow Moss (300/900). Both Neo-Spacians were in defense mode while Neos was in attack mode.

Joey gave a small laugh "Nice move; I haven't seen someone who has been able to defeat my Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon in long time. You're good Jaden."

"Thanks Joey; you're pretty good too" Jaden complimented him.

"But it's not over yet" Joey said drawing a card. "Because I now play my own Pot of Greed. Now I draw two cards." Joey drew his two cards and looked at his hand; he currently held four cards. "I summon Rocket Warrior" he said summoning his monster to the field (1500/1300). "Next I sacrifice my Rocket Warrior to activate Dark Dragon Ritual." Rocket Warrior vanished and a new monster took its place; one with black armor and a blade. "I summon Knight of Dark Dragon" he announced (1900/1200).

"Cool looking knight, but he won't help that much" Jaden said.

"Oh he helps a lot, just not the way you would think" Joey smirked at Jaden. "I activate his special ability; all I have to do is sacrifice him and I can summon out another Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my deck." Jaden's eyes widened as Joey's Knight vanished and in return out came another Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000).

"Don't worry" Joey said seeing Jaden's look. "My Red-Eyes can't attack because of the way he was summoned. But I'm not done yet; I'm now activating the magic of Card of Demise. It lets me draw five new cards from my deck, but in five turns if I have cards in my hand I must discard them." Joey drew a whole brand new set of cards to his hand.

Looking at his hand he widened his eyes slightly before sighing. "Oh man" he sighed.

"What, you get a bad hand" Jaden asked.

"Not exactly; it's just… well I was planning on saving this new card I got to use against Kaiba" Joey said getting confused looks. "But oh well; I guess I'll have to use it on you so Kaiba can get a sneak peak on what he has to look forward to."

'I got a bad feeling about this' Jaden thought.

"First I play Monster Reborn to bring back the Red-Eyes Black Dragon I sacrificed earlier" Joey said and his first Red-Eyes reappeared on the field. "And now I'll bring out my brand new monster; I activate Red-Eyes Fusion."

"Red-Eyes Fusion" Jaden said confused.

"It allows me to fuse a monster together that has 'Red-Eyes' in its name" Joey explained to him. "With it I fuse together the two Red-Eyes on the field and the third Red-Eyes in my hand in order to summon the Red-Eyes Supreme Dragon."

On the field three Red-Eyes fused together in a massive flurry of energy and out of the energy appeared a massive Red-Eyes dragon with three heads with red marks on their foreheads. The large dragon unleashed a mighty roar (4200/3600).

Joey and his monster were on the receiving end of some very wide eyed looks. "Since when did Wheeler have a card like that" Kaiba was the one showing the most shock. For good reason too; that monster looked like a black version of his Blue-Eyes.

"I've had this card stacked away in my deck for about three years now" Joey said in response to Kaiba's shock. "This is the first time I've ever gotten to play it. And you Jaden get to be its first attack, more specifically your Neos. Red-Eyes Supreme Dragon attack with Inferno Hellfire."

Red-Eyes Supreme Dragon roared as all three heads launched a massive stream of black fire from their mouths. Their attacks enveloped Neos making Jaden grunt from the massive backlash and unbearable heat.

Jaden: 2000

Joey: 1000

"Oh and I should probably mention; when a monster that is destroyed by Supreme Dragon you take damage equal to half of your monster's attack points" Joey said. Jaden gave another yell as a backlash hit him again dropping his life points even more.

Joey: 1000

Jaden: 750

"Well that's Joey Wheeler for you" Chazz said. "He's not the third best duelist in the world for nothing."

"No kidding; he completely turned the tide of the game in just one move" Axel agreed.

"It's not over yet; Jaden can still make a comeback" Alexis said believing in Jaden's skills.

Jaden got back up looking at Joey's imposing beast "Well Jaden let's see what you can do about this; I place one card facedown and end my turn" Joey said.

"Believe me I am far from beaten" Jaden said drawing a card. "I play Card of Sanctity; now we both draw until we have six cards." Jaden drew six new cards while joey drew three cards. Jaden looked at his hand with wide eyes "I sacrifice Neo-Spacian Dark Panther in order to summon Elemental HERO Neos Valkyrie." Dark Panther vanished and in its place appeared a female looking Neos monster with white armor over its body with a mask covering the lower portion of the face with a staff in its right hand (2000/1500).

"Next I play the spell card Stone of Neos" Jaden said. The spell card depicted a stone glowing with the power of Neo-space. "When Neos Valkyrie is on the field and Stone of Neos is played it allows me to automatically summon Elemental HERO Neos." Once more Jaden's headliner made its way to his field (2500/2000).

"That's not gonna help you" Joey pointed out.

"So you think" Jaden smirked. "I play the spell card Double Summon. You know what that means; I give up 200 life points and I can summon a new monster."

"Oh boy" Joey said now feeling a bad feeling.

Joey: 1000

Jaden: 550

"Now I sacrifice both Neos monsters in order to summon the Sorcerer of Neo Space" Jaden called. Both Neos and Neos Valkyrie vanished in a flurry of light revealing a brand new monster. This monster was depicted just like Neos only dressed in the armor of a magician, turquoise in color with a long teal colored cape and a teal colored staff in its right hand (3200/2800).

"And with my magician's rise to power comes the Red-Eyes fall from power" Jaden smirked. "Because for every one of my 'Neos' monsters in the graveyard your dragon loses 400 attack points." Joey gasped as did the others "And right now 3 Neos monsters have been given a proper burial" Jaden said counting his Neos, Neos Valkyrie and his Chaos Neos. "So your precious Red-Eyes Supreme Dragon's attack points decrease by 1200 points." Red-Eyes got weaker (4200-1200=3000/3600).

"But that means my Red-Eyes…" Joey gasped.

"Is done for" Jaden finished for him. "Attack Sorcerer with Celestial Cosmos." His monster launched a large blast of multi-colored magic that struck the Red-Eyes Supreme Dragon destroying it.

Joey: 800

Jaden: 550

"And with your powerful monster gone you don't have another one left to combat against me" Jaden said arrogantly.

"That's what you think" Joey grunted drawing a card. He looked at the card and let loose a small laugh. The laugh unnerved Jaden as he knew whatever Joey drew was nothing good for him. "I activate my trap card Red-Eyes Spirit. Return to the field Red-Eyes Black Dragon." Joey's Red-Eyes reappeared on the field once more. "Next I sacrifice my reborn Red-Eyes to summon a new monster."

"Say what" Jaden gasped.

"Oh yes Jaden; I have a whole new monster to show you, compliments of an old friend of mine" Joey smirked. "A really dark dragon; the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon." Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon began to crack apart as black energy seeped from it before exploding with a roar and a new dragon flew out in the darkness. This dragon was indeed very dark and very menacing looking especially when it released a mighty roar (2400/2000).

"Could it be… the Red-Eye's most powerful form" Yugi murmured in awe at his best friend's card.

"And for every dragon in my graveyard the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains an additional 300 attack points" Joey explained to Jaden. "I have five dragons in the graveyard so that's an extra 1500 points right off the bat, for a punishing grand total of 3900 points." Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon got even stronger (2400+1500=3900/2000). "And that's just enough to wipe you out."

"Hold on, don't forget my Sorcerer's power" Jaden called to him. "You're Darkness Dragon's power decreases by 1200."

"I don't think so; thanks to my dragon's Darkness Destruction" Joey said as Darkness Dragon launched a transparent blast of energy that struck the Sorcerer of Neo Space, but didn't destroy it. Darkness Dragon remained untouched.

"What, your monster still has his attack points" Jaden gasped.

"That's right because my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon lets me choose which monster, spell or trap cards can be used against him" Joey told him with a smirk. "It was a good duel Jaden and you came pretty close, but not close enough; it's time for me to end it. Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon attack his Sorcerer with Inferno Dark Fire." Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon launched a massive barrage of black fire that enveloped Jaden's monster in a massive explosion.

"JADEN" Alexis and Jesse shouted.

The others were silent either in shock or in anticipation, waiting for the smoke to clear, but when it did everyone was amazed to see Jaden still standing with his Glow Moss still on the field and his life points intact.

Joey: 800

Jaden: 50

"What, that attack should've wiped your life points away" Joey shouted to him. "How did you still have life points?"

Jaden smirked a bit "Because of my Sorcerer of Neo Space. You see whenever he's attacked by an opponent's monster his attack points increase by 200 giving him a total of 3400 attack points. Your Darkness Dragon with an attack power of 3900 only dealt 500 points of damage leaving me with only 50 points left. This duel's not over yet."

"Oh man, what a lucky save" Syrus said breathing a sigh of relief.

"It was a good save, but Jaden's going to need to pull off a big time miracle in order to beat that Darkness Dragon" Aster said.

"It's my move now" Jaden said drawing a card. Looking at the six cards in his hand Jaden only had one move he could really make. "Alright first I activate Fusion Gate." Putting the field spell card in the slot the field changed slightly. "Now I can fuse monsters without the use of Polymerization. Now I use Fusion Gate to fuse Elemental HERO's Avian, Bubbleman, Clayman and Burstinatrix in order to summon Elemental HERO Electrum." A shining golden colored monster appeared out on the field ready to battle (2900/2600). "Next I place one card facedown and that ends my turn."

"My move then" Joey said drawing a card. "Darkness Dragon destroy his Electrum with Inferno Dark Fire." Darkness Dragon launched another massive blast at Jaden's monster.

"Not so fast; go trap card" Jaden announced.

"Traps don't work on Darkness Dragon, remember" Joey called to him.

"Who said it was on your Darkness Dragon" Jaden smirked making Joey go slightly wide eyed. "The trap card known as Electrum Value works on Electrum." The trap card depicted Elemental HERO Electrum standing tall with Avian, Burstinatrix, Bubbleman and Clayman behind him. "What this trap card does is allow me to take the attack points of one of the monsters used to fuse him and add them to Electrum's attack points for one turn only during damage calculation."

"Oh no" Joey gasped.

"Burstinatrix add your attack points to Electrum" Jaden ordered. A spectral Burstinatrix appeared and launched a fire beam at Electrum powering him up. Electrum roared as his attack increased (2900+1200=4100/2600). Joey gasped realizing his Darkness Dragon was doomed "Counterattack Electrum; Elemental Blast." Electrum launched a large blast of golden energy that hit Darkness Dragon destroying it in a mighty explosion. "And Darkness Dragon is destroyed."

Joey: 600

Jaden: 50

Joey stared wide eyed 'Just like that, my most powerful dragon… it's gone' he thought in shock. Others also had shocked looks on their faces as Joey's strongest monster was destroyed just like that. Joey snapped out of his shock and gave a small smile "Well I didn't see that coming, but I guess I should've. You're an unpredictable guy Jaden, with an even more unpredictable deck."

"Thanks Joey" Jaden said with a sheepish grin.

"But I'm done yet" Joey said plucking two cards from his hand. "I place one card facedown and play my Copycat card." Everyone recognized one of Joey's most famous cards "And with it I'm going to have it copy my Red-Eyes Black Dragon." Copycat took the form of Joey's Red-Eyes (2400/2000). "You can't get rid of my dragon's that easily."

"I guess not" Jaden said. "Thanks to that the effects of Electrum Value Electrum's attack points go back to their original 2900." Electrum lost the attack points it gained from Burstinatrix (4100-1200=2900/2600). "But thanks to Electrum Value's other effect I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck." Jaden drew his card and gasped 'It's one of the cards Pegasus gave me' he thought.

"Earth to Jaden" Joey called to him a moment later. "Are you in there; it's your move."

"Right, my draw" Jaden said drawing a card.

"And with that I activate my trap card" Joey said revealing his trap card. "Go Graverobber and with it I can steal one card from your graveyard. I think I'll steal your Polymerization card."

"Not my Polymerization" Jaden said.

"Yes and with it I'm fusing my copycat Red-Eyes with the Meteor Dragon in my hand" Joey said. Both Monsters flew up into the air and began to fuse together forming a massive monster "And with them combined I summon to the field Meteor Black Dragon." Meteor Black Dragon released a loud roar (3500/2000). "With 3500 attack points your Electrum can't attack me."

"Another Red-Eyes fusion monster" Chazz said. "Just how many of those does Joey have?" No one answered.

Jaden looked at his hand and saw the only two cards he had 'Alright; I can do this' he thought. Smiling at Joey he called "This was a great duel Joey, but now it's time for me to end this."

"And just how do you plan to do that" Joey asked.

"It all starts with this card" Jaden said showing it to Joey. "Say hello to my new card The Dagger of Hassan."

"The Dagger of what…" Joey said confused. Jaden played the card and a large bronze colored lion appeared on the field with a mighty roar. "The Dagger of Hassan works by me sending one fusion material monster in my hand or on the field to the graveyard. So I send my Rainbow Dark Dragon to the graveyard." He discarded the monster "And in return The Dagger of Hassan fuses with the mighty monster to form Rainbow Dark Dagger."

Both the Rainbow Dark Dragon and Hassan fused together in a massive show of bronze colored light and floating down from the sky was a massive black dagger with rainbow jewel studs all over the handle and in the middle of the blade (4000/0). "And the best part is that when I summon Rainbow Dark Dagger I can equip it to Elemental HERO Electrum and in return Electrum gains 1000 attack points." The Dagger flew to Electrum's hand and he glowed with power (2900+1000=3900/2600).

"3900 attack points" Joey gasped.

"And it gets better" Jaden smirked. "Thanks to Rainbow Dark Dagger he also gains 500 extra attack points for each DARK attribute monster in both of our graveyards. Last I checked the total amount of DARK Attribute monsters in our graveyards… was 10."

"Ten monsters… that means" Joey said wide eyed as Electrum grew even stronger (3900+5000=8900/2600).

"8900 attack points" Serenity gasped. "Joey." All of Joey's friends, family and acquaintances were silent knowing that this was it. Joey stood tall and proud knowing he had lost; with a nod to Jaden he smiled.

Jaden knew what he had to do "Elemental HERO Electrum, attack his Meteor Black Dragon." Electrum charged forward and stabbed Meteor Black Dragon making the large dragon roar before he exploded in a mighty boom. That was all she wrote.

Jaden: 50

Joey: 0

"And the winner is Jaden Yuki" the MC announced in a loud voice.

Jaden breathed a huge sigh of relief, but it was drowned out when all of his friends rushed at him with cheers. Joey chuckled slightly before clapping softly as well; the others were silent at Jaden's comeback victory before Yugi had begun to clap. Slowly the others did as well.

Joey walked up to Jaden "Good duel Jaden" Joey said to him. Jaden turned back to Joey "No matter what I threw at you, you had a perfect comeback and not to mention it looked like luck was on your side. What I'm saying is… good job and good luck when facing Kaiba."

Jaden shook hands with Joey "Thanks Joey" he smiled.

Kaiba was scrutinizing Jaden the whole time during all of his duels and just when he thought he had a strategy to beat Jaden's deck it was proven ineffective. 'That deck of his is as unpredictable as Yugi's. He can summon out Elemental HERO's, Neos Monsters, Evil HERO's, those Wicked God cards and now this new card.' Kaiba then smirked 'To beat him I'll have to crush him before he can even blink.'

With that Kaiba stepped up to the platform "Don't start celebrating too soon Jaden" Kaiba said to him. "Now it's our turn to duel."

Jaden chuckled a bit as he faced Kaiba "And I'm looking forward to it" Kaiba smirked at him as he walked over to his spot on the dueling platform.

"Kaiba" Joey said as he walked past him. "Don't underestimate him."

"I underestimate no one" Kaiba told Joey in his usual serious tone. With that Joey went back and stood with his wife and son. His son looked sad at seeing his father lose, but Joey comforted his son telling him that he did his best and Jaden was just better. Michael was still sad, but he understood what his father said.

Jaden exchanged a few words with his friends as they wished him luck before he stepped up and faced Seto Kaiba himself. Jaden breathed in a big breath; he remembered when he faced the spirit of Kaiba's personally created card 'Kaibaman' during the incident with the Shadow Riders.

Jaden and Kaiba met in the middle of the field much like he and Joey did earlier. Both of them handed their decks to one another and while Jaden began shuffling right away Kaiba paused as he could sense the power of the three Wicked Gods in the deck he was holding. He felt excitement welling inside his body.

Finally he shuffled Jaden's deck and handed it back to him as Jaden handed Kaiba's deck back to him. Then the two of them walked back to their own sides of the field. 'I've faced the Blue-Eyes White Dragon before and I did terrible against it; I won't let this be a repeat of last time.'

'Alright Jaden, you've beaten everyone you've faced before, but I'm not like everyone else' Kaiba said mentally as he stared at his opponent. 'My Blue-Eyes White Dragon will crush you to dust.'

Both of them put their decks into their duel disks and activated them. "GAME ON" both of them called. "I think I'll start this off" Kaiba said drawing a card. Looking at his current hand he let out a smirk "I summon Kaibaman" he said. On the field appeared Kaiba's personal card that was made in the likeliness of him (200/700).

"Of course Kaiba would have a card named after him" Joey said dryly. His friends just nodded dryly with him.

"And now time for you to face a monster that is feared by all duelists everywhere" Kaiba smirked. "I tribute Kaibaman in order to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Kaibaman vanished and in its place appeared Kaiba's signature card; the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The legendary dragon let loose a loud roar (3000/2500).

Jaden gulped nervously as he was staring down Kaiba's legendary dragon and this time it was the real deal.

"Kaiba's ruthless" Axel commented.

"No kidding; this just like the last time in the spirit world right Chazz" Syrus said.

"Yeah" Chazz said quietly remembering the time he was with them in spirit world when Jaden faced off against Kaibaman.

"You're move Jaden, unless you wish to just give up now" Kaiba smirked.

"Not on your life" Jaden said drawing a card. Looking at his hand Jaden already saw a way to counter the Blue-Eyes. "You're Blue-Eyes is powerful, but not invincible. And I'll prove it with this. First I play Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Necroshade in order to summon Elemental HERO Great Tornado." Both monsters appeared briefly before merging together and forming a new hero monster with a mantle around its neck. A great wind suddenly blew through the area as Great Tornado settled itself on the field (2800/2200).

Kaiba wasn't impressed "You summoned a new HERO monster, but it's still not strong enough."

"Are you sure" Jaden smirked. "Why don't you look at your dragon?" Kaiba gasped with narrowed eyes as he saw his dragon become weaker (3000-1500=1500/2500-1250=1250).

"My dragon, what is the meaning of this" Kaiba demanded.

"Great Tornado has a special ability; when he's summoned to the field all the monsters you currently control lose half their attack and defense points" Jaden explained. "Which means your Dragon is now weak enough to destroy; Great Tornado attack his Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Gusting Tornado."

Great Tornado formed a massive tornado before launching it at Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The attack hit and the massive dragon was destroyed making Kaiba grunt from the backlash.

Jaden: 4000

Kaiba: 2700

"And to end my turn I place two cards facedown" Jaden said. "You're move Kaiba."

"Hmph" Kaiba grunted drawing a card. He then smirked "Don't forget Jaden, I have more than one Blue-Eyes. I summon Maiden with Eyes of Blue." On the field appeared a very beautiful looking woman with long white hair, blue eyes and wearing a robe with Blue-Eyes White Dragon parts on it (0/0).

'Whoa, that's even cuter than the Dark Magician Girl' Syrus thought privately blushing slightly. He was really happy no one noticed.

"Okay, what are you going to do with her; my Great Tornado can destroy her in a single blast" Jaden asked.

"True, but she's not used for attacking" Kaiba said. "I now activate the spell card Enchanting Blue-Eyes." The spell card depicted the eyes of Kaiba's monster; her blue eyes were indeed very enchanting. "Since I have Maiden with Eyes of Blue on my field I can take a Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck, or graveyard and add it to my hand." Kaiba's first Blue-Eyes ejected from his graveyard and into his hand.

"Ah man, I just got rid of that" Jaden grunted.

"Well he's about to come back to haunt you" Kaiba said dangerously. "Because no I activate the special ability of my maiden. When a card effect is used on her I can change her position on the field from attacking to defending." His Maiden with Eyes of Blue crouched down in a praying position "And not only that I can also summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon."

And just like that the same Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field that Jaden previously destroyed (3000/2500).

"And I hate to be the bearer of more bad news" Kaiba said without remorse. "But your Great Tornado won't be around for much longer. In fact he's about to be destroyed; I play Burst Stream of Destruction."

'Oh no, not that one' Jaden thought remembering that card.

"I assume you know what it means" Kaiba said with his usual arrogant smirk. "Since I have a Blue Eyes on the field all monsters on your field are destroyed. Attack Blue Eyes, Burst Stream of Destruction." Blue-Eyes roared and launched a massive blast of energy that completely destroyed Great Tornado. "Luckily for you I can't attack when I activate that card so you're safe from my Blue-Eyes true wrath until next turn."

"Thanks for that, in the meantime I activate a trap card" Jaden said. "Go Tornado Storm." The trap card depicted Great Tornado in the middle of a massive tornado. "Since Great Tornado was destroyed this turn I can bring back the monsters used to fusion summon him. Avian, Necroshade return to the field." Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) and Elemental HERO Necroshade (1600/1800) returned to the field in defense mode.

"All you can do is defend; this won't take much longer" Kaiba said. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Jaden drew a card and looked at his field and current hand. He smirked "I sacrifice Avian and Necroshade in order to summon Elemental HERO Neos." Both of Jaden's monster's vanished and Neos appeared on the field with a roar (2500/2000).

Kaiba got a smirk on his face 'Just like Yugi' he thought remembering Yugi's Dark Magician. "Big deal" he scoffed out loud.

"Oh it is" Jaden smirked. "I activate my other facedown card; Wrath of Neos. This spell card works by me returning Neos to my deck." Neos vanished and Jaden put Neos into his deck and reshuffled. "And in return all cards on the field are destroyed."

"What" Kaiba gasped as his Dragon roared and was destroyed. His Maiden released a small scream before she was destroyed as well. Kaiba growled "I will make you pay for that."

"No doubt" Jaden whispered to himself.

"He took down Kaiba's Blue-Eyes twice, but now he's left himself defenseless" Jesse commented. "He must have some kind of plan."

"Well, let's find out" Chazz said.

Jaden was looking at his hand now or more specifically a card that was at the far left of his hand. This was the card he had used to help bring Yubel back to normal when he first pulled them both into a separate dimension.

"What are you waiting for Jaden" Kaiba called to him. "Finish up you move or is the great Supreme King afraid to play a card."

Jaden grunted slightly "I'm not afraid to play any card; I play Dark Castle of the Supreme King." Eyes widened as no one, NO ONE, had ever seen Jaden play that card. Jaden placed the card in his Field Spell slot and his disk sparked with black sparks. The entire field got dark and now, instead of a dueling arena Jaden and Kaiba were standing on a rocky causeway. Behind Jaden was a massive and very daunting castle.

Jim, Axel and Syrus gave a small shiver as they were reminded of when they saw the Supreme King on this very causeway in the other dimension.

"The Dark Castle of the Supreme King" Kaiba murmured quietly. "I never imagined a card like this."

"I activate the special ability of my Dark Castle" Jaden said. "It's lets me summon one level 4 or lower fiend-type monster from my deck or my hand. So I summon Evil HERO infernal Gainer in defense mode." On the field Jaden's Evil HERO appeared with its arms crossed (1600/0). Looking at the remaining two cards in his hand Jaden said "I now place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Man, how does Jaden have all of these amazing cards" Joey asked out loud. "Pegasus did you give him these cards?"

"Hmm, in a way you could say that" Pegasus said. "The HERO cards were one of my favorite cards to make; nearly all of them are mass-produced with a select few being on the rare side. Those are the Elemental HERO brand. The Destiny HERO's are a special breed made by a former top designer of mine; Aster Phoenix's father."

"However" Pegasus said a moment later. "Of all the HERO cards I created the ones that are the most dangerous and most powerful are the Evil HERO cards."

"Those cards" Yugi said remembering them.

Pegasus nodded "The Evil HERO's, as said by Reiner during his duel with Jaden-boy, are the personal guards of the Supreme King. Nine of them in total; they're specialty is power and quick beat downs. They strike so fast and so ruthlessly that no opponent can properly defend themselves. Their powers were so mighty I never had them mass produced and kept them singly with me."

"Then how does Jaden have them" Mai asked curiously.

"Because my dear he is the Supreme King" Pegasus said simply. "The Evil HERO's will answer to him and him alone, no one else. However that castle that he just played. The Dark Castle of the Supreme King; I only made a prototype of that card when I first discovered the ancient scriptures of the Supreme King. Much like the Golden Castle of Stromberg I had never intended to release that card because its power is massive. I'm afraid to say that with that card on the field then Kaiba doesn't stand a chance against Jaden-boy."

With that last ominous statement everyone turned back to the duel. Kaiba heard them all, but didn't react at all "Powerful castle or not this duel is not over; my move."

"And with that I activate my spell card" Jaden said. "It's called Gainer's Gain." The spell card depicted Infernal Gainer's face up close. "With this spell card during every one of your standby phases, as long as Infernal Gainer is on the field, I can draw two cards from my deck." With that Jaden drew two cards from his deck "Go ahead and continue now."

Kaiba growled slightly "Don't get so full of yourself yet; I play Pot of Greed." Kaiba drew two cards from his deck and widened his eyes slightly before smirking. "Take this Jaden; I play the spell card Blue-Eyes Fusion." The spell card depicted three Blue-Eyes flying together in a Polymerization design.

"I can hazard a guess at what this does" Jaden said.

"I bet you can; like Wheeler's Red-Eyes Fusion I can use Blue-Eyes Fusion and fuse my Blue-Eyes together to form my ultimate monster" Kaiba said. "And the best part is that I can do it from my graveyard, hand and deck."

"Oh no" Jaden gasped.

"Oh yes" Kaiba smirked. "I fuse from my graveyard, deck and hand my three Blue-Eyes White Dragon's and summon to the field my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon." All three Blue-Eyes roared before fusing together and creating Kaiba's ultimate beast of legend; the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800). "Your life points may be safe, but your Infernal Gainer isn't. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Neutron Blast Attack." Blue-Eyes Ultimate roared and launched its devastating attack that hit Infernal Gainer and enveloped Jaden in a massive explosion.

Then it died down Jaden looked a little woozy.

Kaiba: 2700

Jaden: 1100

Now everyone was confused "What is the meaning of this; is your disk malfunctioning" Kaiba demanded.

"No malfunction here" Jaden informed him steadying himself. "It's the effect of my Dark Castle; all my monsters are susceptible to piercing damage while in defense mode."

"If that's true then with your Gainer having zero defense points and my Ultimate Dragon having 4500 attack points then you should've lost" Kaiba glared at him.

"Normally yes, but the other effect of that is that when a monster of mine is destroyed by that effect I gain life points equal to their attack points" Jaden informed Kaiba. "So in other words this duel is still going strong."

"Hmph, lucky move" Kaiba grunted. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move" Jaden said. "And thanks to the effect of my Dark Castle, instead of conducting my draw phase I'm allowed to take one random fiend monster from my deck and add it to my hand." A random card poked from Jaden's deck making him slightly wide eyed before he smirked. "Well I haven't had a chance to officially play this one yet."

"Play what yet" Kaiba said eyes narrowed.

"I'll show you, but first I play Monster Reborn to bring back Infernal Gainer" Jaden said. Jaden's Infernal Gainer reappeared on the field. "Next I sacrifice Infernal Gainer and send Dark Ruler Ha Des from my hand to the graveyard." Jaden discarded his card and Infernal Gainer vanished "And in return I summon Darkness Neosphere."

On the field in a massive swirl of Darkness appeared Jaden's new monster that he won from Nightshroud (4000/4000). "And with that I'll end my turn." The moment Jaden said that his life points shot up.

Jaden: 4000

Kaiba: 2700

"What, your life points went up" Kaiba said shocked.

"That's the special ability of Darkness Neosphere" Jaden said. "At the end of each of my turns while he's on the field if my life points are below 4000 then they automatically shoot back up to 4000."

Kaiba growled at that; no matter what he threw at Jaden, he always seemed to have a comeback. "My move" Kaiba said drawing a card. He smirked "I play Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands." An ugly looking monster with a lot of hands appeared on Kaiba's field (1400/1000). "And since I normal summoned him I can now activate his special ability. I'm allowed to take one ritual card from my deck and add it to my hand."

"Let me guess; your White Dragon Ritual" Jaden said. "It's useless since all your dragon's are in the graveyard." It was well known that Kaiba's only ritual monster was Paladin of White Dragon.

"You're wrong" Kaiba said surprising Jaden. "I do have another Ritual Monster; I've had him for a while, but never played him. In fact I haven't had a chance to see this card in action in ten long years."

Yugi narrowed his eyes before they widened 'No, he couldn't have… that card.'

"I activate the magic of Black Luster Ritual" Kaiba said playing the card. Jaden, Yugi and everyone else gasped as they knew of that famous card. "With it I sacrifice Manju of Ten Thousand Hands and the Des Feral Imp in my hand in order to summon Black Luster Soldier." On the field out of the ritual appeared one of the most powerful and rarest ritual monsters in all of duel monsters (3000/2500).

"No way, I thought only Yugi had that card" Jaden gasped wide eyed.

"You thought wrong" Kaiba smirked maliciously at him. "Now then let's get rid of that pesky Darkness Neosphere; Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack with Neutron Blast." Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's hit Darkness Neosphere and destroyed it making Jaden grunt.

Jaden: 3500

Kaiba: 2700

"And Now Black Luster Soldier attack him directly" Kaiba ordered. Black Luster Soldier charged forward and hit Jaden directly sending him flying back onto the ground.

Kaiba: 2700

Jaden: 500

Jaden grunted as he forced himself up from the massive attack while Kaiba chuckled arrogantly. "Get up Jaden; you're in the duel of your life. No isn't the time to be on the ground like a dog."

Jaden growled slightly before forcing himself up "My move" he said drawing a card. "I play Card of Sanctity; now we both draw until we have six cards." Kaiba drew five cards while Jaden drew four. Jaden looked at his hand and his eyes widened slightly "Alright Kaiba; I think it's time I put an end to your monsters once and for all."

"Oh really, can you say when I activate this" Kaiba said revealing his facedown card. "Go Polymerization; with it I fuse my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with my Black Luster Soldier." Black Luster Soldier jumped into the air and landed atop Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon as the dragon roared loudly. "Meet my most powerful monster; the Dragon Master Knight" Kaiba said victoriously (5000/5000).

"5000 attack points" Alexis gasped.

"That's way too much power" Jesse agreed with her.

"No matter what strategy you come up with Jaden; you can't bring out a monster that can beat my Dragon Master Knight" Kaiba said victoriously.

"Well… in a way you're right, but also wrong" Jaden said cheekily.

"What" Kaiba said eyes narrowed.

"It's true, with my current hand I can't bring out a monster with enough attack points to defeat the Dragon Master Knight, but with the right special ability I can" Jaden said.

"You lie" Kaiba hissed.

"Watch me" Jaden said. "First I place one card facedown and then I play this; The Chains of Enkidu." With that a massive roaring silver lion appeared on the field.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes "What are you going to do with that?"

"What this allows me to do is fuse together a fusion monster of mine with one trap card" Jaden said. "And I reveal that trap card; the one I placed facedown. Change of Hero – Reflector Ray." With that the massive lion and Jaden's trap card fused together creating a mighty lion with light platinum armor over its body "With both cards fused together I summon the one and only Reflector Ray Lion" Jaden finished as his lion roared loudly (2500/1500).

Kaiba grunted "That monster only has half the strength of my Dragon Master Knight."

"Did you not hear what I said earlier; it's the effect that counts" Jaden smirked. "For you see my Reflector Ray Lion has all the special abilities of the trap card used to summon it."

"What ability" Kaiba demanded.

"I can now destroy one Fusion Monster on your side of the field" Jaden said making Kaiba go wide eyed. Jaden's lion roared as silver energy built all around it before it launched a massive beam that hit Kaiba's monster destroying it in a massive explosion.

"… My Dragon Master Knight" Kaiba said in absolute shock as his most powerful monster was destroyed.

"That's not all Kaiba" Jaden said. "For you see you also take damage x300 equal to the level of the monster that was destroyed."

"I what" Kaiba gasped.

"I'll break it down; your Dragon Master Knight was level 12 so multiply 300 times 12 and you lose 3600 life points" Jaden said simply as the backlash from the attack struck Kaiba and that was it.

Jaden: 500

Kaiba: 0

"And that's game" Jaden said with a smirk. 'Two down and one more to go.'

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	16. Chapter 16

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Sixteen)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

With Jaden's duel with Kaiba over a break was announced; Jaden would get one hour to rest before his duel with Yugi. He spent it wisely and ran over to a refreshment table with all his friends and while chowing down and relaxing they were all excitedly gossiping about Jaden's duels.

"Well Kaiba, what do you think" Yugi asked.

Kaiba didn't respond for a moment as he stared at Jaden before smirking "I think you're about to be dethroned."

"Typical Kaiba response" Joey said dryly.

"He might be right Joey" Mai said softly next to him.

"No way, do you really think you'll lose Yugi" Joey said in disbelief. Joey didn't think it would be physically possible for Yugi to lose if his opponent played fair.

"I don't know Joey" Yugi admitted. "I've studied Jaden's deck from all the duels he's been in and I can spot no weakness or set pattern. His deck is too versatile and the amount of combinations and abilities he can throw out are too complex to form a counter strategy against."

This was the first time in a long time anyone had ever heard Yugi admit that he might not win. "Then… what are you going to do" Tea asked her husband.

Yugi turned to his wife, who was carrying his daughter, his pride and joy, and smiled. "I'll do what I've always done. I'll leave my fate to the Heart of the Cards."

"You'll win, right daddy" Allison asked softly with innocent eyes.

Yugi smiled and patted her head "I'll certainly do my best."

ONE HOUR LATER

Now it was upon them all; the final duel was about to begin. Jaden would now be facing off against the undefeated Duel Monster's World Champion, Strongest Duelist and King of Games Yugi Muto. The two of them walked out into the center of the field and stared at each other before smiling. "It's been three years right" Jaden asked.

Yugi nodded "Yes… three years since I gave you that card." Jaden pulled out his deck and plucked the top card off revealing Winged Kuriboh. "In the last three years you have become incredibly strong. I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time."

"Well I hope I can live up to 'The Strongest Duelist's' expectations" Jaden replied before Yugi pulled his deck out and passed it to Jaden with Jaden doing the same. While Jaden began to shuffle Yugi's deck right away Yugi had paused as he stared at Jaden's deck. He could see a massive black aura pouring off of Jaden's deck making him choke back a gasp. "You know I can feel something from you" Jaden said making Yugi look back at him. "It almost feels like the gaze of a stern guardian watching me; weird huh" he grinned.

"Heh" Yugi chuckled slightly as he finished shuffling Jaden's deck. They handed their decks back and went back to their sides of the field. As they walked back a spirit appeared next to Yugi.

"As expected of the Supreme King; Jaden was able to sense my presence" Dark Magician said to Yugi.

'Yeah' Yugi replied mentally.

"And that Deck of his will be a major problem" Dark Magician continued casting a meaningful look back to Jaden.

'I know' Yugi replied again. 'The energy I sensed coming from that deck was enormous. That Deck holds the power of the three Wicked God's.'

Jaden was also having his own spiritual conversation "Are you worried" Yubel asked.

'You're kidding right' he replied with a grin. 'To face the strongest deck in the world and the strongest duelist. Only a faker would wilt in the face of it.' The two of them made it back to their side of the field before turning to face one another with their Duel Disks activating. The power of their spirits were radiating casting an aura around them that only they could see. This would be a duel between the most powerful.

"GAME ON" they both shouted. Everyone on the sidelines was looking back and forth waiting withheld breaths and anticipation for the greatest duel ever to commence.

"I'll start this off this time" Jaden said drawing a card. Looking at his hand "I activate Polymerization. With it I fuse together Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix in order to summon the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman." Both monsters fused together to create one of Jaden's favorite monster's; it appeared on the field with a roar (2100/1200). "To end my turn I place one card facedown. Your move Yugi."

"Very well" Yugi said drawing a card. "I summon Mystical Elf in defense mode" he said summoning his monster (800/2000). "Next I play the spell card Magical Dimension. With it, as long as I have a Spellcaster type monster on my field I can sacrifice that monster and summon a new Spellcaster type monster from my hand. I now sacrifice my Mystical Elf in order to summon Dark Magician."

Mystical Elf vanished into the Magical Dimension and in her place appeared Yugi's headliner card; the Dark Magician (2500/2100).

"It's the real Dark Magician" Jaden said with amazement while his friends held similar amazement. Jaden was beside himself with excitement "I'm so pumped."

Yugi smiled a bit "I activate the other effect of Magical Dimension; I get to destroy one monster on the field. Say goodbye to your Flame Wingman." A blast of magic shot from the card and hit Flame Wingman and destroyed the monster. "And don't think I'm done yet; Dark Magician attack his life points directly."

"Nice try Yugi, Negate Attack will save my life points" Jaden said. His trap card activated just in time and saved him. 'Such a ruthless attack so early; definitely he's good.'

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn" Yugi said. 'Good move Jaden, but you're gonna have to do better if you want to beat me.'

"Alright, my move again" Jaden said drawing a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in defense mode." Jaden's Bubbleman appeared on the field in defense mode (800/1200). "And since Bubbleman is the only one out on my field I can draw two new cards." Jaden drew his two cards and looked at his hand. "I place three cards facedown and end my turn."

"Hmm" Yugi hummed looking at the field "My move then." Drawing a card Yugi looked at his hand "I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode." Yugi's monster made its appearance (1400/1200). "Next I play the spell card Thousand Knives." Countless amount of knives appeared on the field floating around the Dark Magician. "When Thousand Knives is played and Dark Magician is on the field I can destroy one monster on your field." The thousand knives shot forward and impaled Bubbleman destroying him. "And since you're wide open I'll attack you directly. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack."

"Not so fast Yugi, I have a trap card" Jaden called. "A Hero Emerges. When you attack me you have to choose a single card from my hand at random and if it's a monster then I get to summon it. I only have one in my hand so show yourself, Elemental HERO Neos." Jaden's headliner then appeared on the field with a grunt (2500/2000).

The Dark Magic attack vanished while Yugi smirked. "Of all your cards it seems that Neos is your ace."

"Yugi, if the symbol of your deck is the Dark Magician then mine is Elemental HERO Neos" Jaden replied with a grin. "The real duel has just begun."

"Bring it on Jaden" Yugi said with a grin. "Neos and Dark Magician have the same attack points so I cancel the battle and end my turn."

"Is it just me or is Yugi really pumped up" Joey asked.

"No it's not just you" Tea said also surprised. "I haven't seen him this excited for a duel in a long time."

"Go daddy" Allison cheered loudly.

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. "I summon Card Trooper" he said bringing forth a monster that looked like a children's toy (400/400). "The effect of Card Trooper lets me send up to three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard and in return his attack points increase by 500 for each one I send." Jaden took the top three cards from his deck and discarded them and his Card Trooper got stronger (400+1500=1900/400). "Next I activate my facedown card Neos Force. With this card equipped to Neos it will increase his attack points by 800." Neos glowed blue as his attack points rose as well (2500+800=3300/2000).

"3300 attack points" Yugi murmured knowing his two monsters didn't have the strength to stand up to that.

"And there's more. When Neos destroys a monster you will take damage equal to that destroyed Monster's attack points" Jaden told him. "Go Neos, attack the Dark Magician." Neos charged the Dark Magician.

"Too hasty Jaden; I activate the trap card Mirror Force" Yugi said revealing is trap card. "Now Neos' attack is reflected back to you and destroyed along with your Card Trooper." The attack reflected and Neos and Card Trooper were both destroyed in an explosion.

Jaden grunted from the backlash "I activate Card Trooper's special ability; when he's destroyed I can draw one card from my deck." Jaden drew his single card "Next I activate my trap card Death and Rebirth. When a normal monster on my field is destroyed I can destroy one monster on your field and then I can call back the monster that was previously destroyed."

"What" Yugi gasped.

"Say goodbye to your Dark Magician" Jaden smirked as his trap card shot at the Dark Magician.

"I see your trap and I'll counter it with another; go Shift" Yugi said activating his other trap card. "With this I can change the target of Death and Rebirth to my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian." The two monsters shifted places and the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian was destroyed instead.

Jaden grunted as Death and Rebirth took place "Come on back Neos." Neos reappeared on the field with a grunt (2500/2000). "Due to the effect of Death and Rebirth, the monster revived with it must attack this turn. Go Neos, attack the Dark Magician."

"Dark Magician attack" Yugi ordered. Both Monsters jumped in midair and collided and both were destroyed in a mighty explosion.

"Neos/Dark Magician" both Yugi and Jaden shouted. 'Just as expected; he was able to counter my traps flawlessly' Jaden thought.

'To read my Mirror Force so accurately and have a perfect counterattack; excellent Jaden' Yugi thought. "My move" Yugi said drawing a card. "I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior." One of Yugi's famed Magnet Warriors came to the field (1400/1700). "Now Alpha the Magnet Warrior, attack his life points directly." The Magnet Warrior charged at Jaden sword raised high.

"Not so fast; I activate the effect of Necro Gardna" Jaden said as a card slipped from his graveyard. "If I take him out of my graveyard I can stop your attack." Necro Gardna appeared in spectral form and stopped the attack.

'Back then' Yugi thought remembering Jaden's previous move. 'He sent Necro Gardna to the graveyard with Card Trooper's effect. As I thought he can manipulate his deck to his advantage.'

"My turn" Jaden said drawing a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman." Jaden's hero made his appearance onto the field (1600/1400). "Sparkman attack his Magnet Warrior with Spark Flash." Sparkman roared and launched a massive blast of electricity that struck Yugi's monster and destroyed it.

Jaden: 4000

Yugi: 3800

Yugi shielded his face from the blast "Early lead eh Yugi" Jaden teased.

"We'll see about that" Yugi smirked in return. "My move" Yugi drew a card and his smirk widened. "I summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight." On the field Yugi's knight appeared with his horse roaring (2300/2100). "As you know when Swift Gaia is the only card in my hand I can summon him to the field automatically without sacrificing. Now attack his Sparkman with Spiral Shaver." The attack hit Sparkman and he was destroyed.

Yugi: 3800

Jaden: 3300

"What was that you were saying about early leads" Yugi teased.

"Heh, my words got thrown back at me" Jaden said sheepishly. 'Jeez, just when I think I have his strategies figured out.' "My move" Jaden drew his next card. "I activate the effect of my Elemental HERO Necroshade. When he's in the graveyard I can summon an Elemental HERO to the field without a sacrifice just once. I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge." Bladedge appeared on the field with his blades sharp (2600/1800). "I'm not done yet; I equip Bladedge with the spell card Impact Flip. Now whenever Bladedge destroys one of your monsters you must discard one card from the top of your deck." Yugi scowled slightly "Bladedge attack his Knight with slice and dice attack." Bladedge charged forward and slashed down Yugi's knight.

Yugi: 3500

Jaden: 3300

Recovering from the blast Yugi plucked the top card from his deck and discarded it. "They're matching each other move for move" Jesse commented in awe.

"I know" Alexis agreed. "Whenever Yugi summons a monster Jaden brings out a more powerful one and the process just repeats itself."

"My move Jaden" Yugi said drawing a card. "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now we both draw until we each have six cards in our hands." Both Yugi and Jaden drew a full six cards. "I now call out Watapon" he said. A small monster shaped like a puffball appeared on the field (200/300). "Since Watapon was added to my hand via the effect of a card I can special summon it. Now I sacrifice Watapon in order to summon Dark Magician Girl."

And on the field appeared the one and only beautiful Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700).

"Ah, the real Dark Magician Girl" Syrus said with a bright smile and blush. The Dark Magician Girl heard him and gave him a flirty wink and blew a kiss making Syrus blush. His friends laughed at him.

"As you know Dark Magician Girl receives an extra 300 attack points for every Dark Magician in either graveyard" Yugi told him. Since his own Dark Magician was in the graveyard Dark Magician girl got stronger (2300/1700). "Now Dark Magician Girl attack his Bladedge now."

"What, but Bladedge has 2600 attack points and Dark Magician Girl only has 2300" Jaden said in shock.

Yugi smirked "Are you sure about that? Perhaps you should look closer." Jaden gasped when a massive fiend monster appeared on the field behind Bladedge and gripped onto him.

"What the…" Jaden gaped.

Yugi smirked "The card sent to the graveyard with Impact Flip was a monster known as Archfiend of Gilfer. When he's sent to the graveyard he becomes an equip for one monster on the field. That monster loses 500 attack points." That meant that Bladedge was weak enough for the enhanced Dark Magician Girl to destroy (2600-500=2100/1800). The attack hit and Bladedge was destroyed.

Yugi: 3500

Jaden: 3100

Recovering Jaden spoke "Due to the other effect of Impact Flip… when it's destroyed both of us draw one card."

Both Jaden and Yugi drew their one card "I place three cards facedown and end my turn" Yugi said.

'As I thought, his moves are unpredictable' Jaden thought. 'He's truly a duelist who can't be predicted.'

"Hmph, are you scared" Yubel asked.

'Scared' Jaden responded confused.

"Look at your hand" Yubel pointed out. Jaden did indeed look at his hand; it was trembling.

'Am I… afraid' he thought silently to himself. His hand didn't stop trembling until he clenched it into a fist 'No… it's not fear I'm trembling with. It's… excitement. It's been such a long time since I could truly enjoy a duel without the fear of the world on the line being through my mind. It reminds me of my first year at the Academy. It was so simple back then; the only worry I had was if I passed a test or not. Then I had to worry about the fate of the world and the universe itself. Being able to duel for the fun of it again… is such a euphoric experience… and I get to share it with the strongest duelist. It's a great feeling.'

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Jaden and Yugi snorted. Then they both started laughing; a joyous almost childish laugh that had everyone else blinking in confusion. They wondered if it was some kind of personal inside joke.

"I'm sorry" Yugi said wiping a tear from his eye. "I don't know what came over me."

"Same here" Jaden said with a bright grin. "Yugi you're amazing, the absolute strongest. I don't think I've ever come across a duelist as powerful as you."

"But that's you as well" Yugi told him. "I have seen a duelist with such a deep bond to his deck."

Jaden smiled before looking at his deck 'This will be my most important duel. It will show how much I have grown and matured.' "My turn; here I come Yugi."

"Bring it Jaden" Yugi said his spirit completely pumped. Jaden drew his card and withheld a wide eyed look when he saw one of his Wicked God's. Withholding a look that would give it away Jaden reached for another card.

"I now activate Hero's Guild" Jaden said. "With this both of us draw the top card of our deck; if it's a Warrior card we can add it to our hand. If not it's sent to the graveyard." Jaden drew a card and 'tsked' 'Grand Mole is a good card especially considering its effect, but it's a Rock-Type.' Looking at his hand Jaden saw another card 'There's still a way.'

Grabbing another card he called out "I now activate Code Change. With it I can change the text written on any card to whatever I want. I chance the 'Warrior' written on Hero's Guild to 'Rock' type."

"I don't think so" Yugi said. "I activate my trap card; Mystical Refpanel. Now the effects of Code Change are sealed within this mirror." A Goddess holding a mirror appeared with Code Change locked inside. Jaden had no choice, but to discard his cards. Yugi drew a card and frowned "Unfortunately my card isn't a Warrior-Type either" he said discarding the card.

"Don't think I'm finished yet; I activate Sup-Space Battle" Jaden said. The entire area glowed a purplish blue color "Now we each pluck three monsters from our deck and reveal them one by one. The one with the higher attack gets to add the monster to the hand while the one with the weaker monster must discard the card to the graveyard and receive 500 points of damage." Both of them plucked their cards from their decks before reshuffling "Alright Yugi, let's do it."

"Yeah" Yugi said.

"These are my monsters" Jaden said revealing his cards.

"And these are mine" Yugi said revealing his three. Jaden's monsters were Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab (500/500), Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin (600/800) and Elemental HERO Clayman (800/2000). Meanwhile Yugi's monsters were Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850), Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500) and Buster Blader (2600/2300).

It was painfully clear who had the stronger monsters. "Alright Buster Blade, Sword Flash." Buster Blader struck down Clayman. "Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Blade" his soldier struck down Aqua Dolphin. "Valkyrion, Magnet Saber" he ordered and Valkyrion struck down Flare Scarab.

All of Jaden's monsters were destroyed in a mighty explosion.

Yugi: 3500

Jaden: 1600

"I send my three monsters to the graveyard" Jaden said discarding his cards.

"And I add my three to my hand" Yugi said putting his cards in his hand.

"Mommy, why did he use those weak monsters against Daddy" Allison asked innocently.

"I… don't know" was all Tea could say. It was clear no one else had an answer either.

Jaden was smirking "Everything's ready now."

'Oh no, Jaden send those cards to the graveyard on purpose' Yugi realized too late.

"Now here comes the true power my deck can produce" Jaden said. "And it starts with Miracle Fusion. With this I banish certain Elemental HERO's from the graveyard to summon a Fusion Monster. I banish Flame Wingman and Sparkman to summon the Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman." Both of Jaden's monster's fused together and formed a monster so shiny that the entire area was glowing brightly (2500/2100). "And thanks to his special ability he receives 300 extra attack points for every Elemental HERO in the graveyard." Shining Flare Wingman let out a grunt of power as his attack points rose (2500+1800=4300/2100).

"I'm far from done; now I activate Miracle Contact" Jaden said. "With this I must send certain monsters back to my deck in order to summon a Neos Fusion Monster. So I'm returning Elemental HERO Neos, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab to my deck… to perform a triple contact fusion." All three monsters jumped into the air and began fusing getting awed looks "And now welcome to the field Elemental HERO Magma Neos" Jaden called as one of his most powerful Neos monsters appeared on the field (3000/2500).

"Next I play the Field Spell card Neo Space" Jaden said activating the card. The entire area was surrounded in multi-colored space. "With it all Neos monsters gain 500 extra attack points and in addition Magma Neos gains an additional 400 attack points for every single card on the field." Magma Neos attack points then shot off the charts (3000+3300=6300/2500).

"Two monsters with 4300 and 6300 attack points" Yugi gaped in shock at the monsters.

"Wow, no wonder we lost eh Kaiba" Joey said just as impressed as Yugi was.

"Speak for yourself Wheeler" Kaiba grunted although secretly he was also impressed.

"This is only a partial sample of how powerful my deck is Yugi" Jaden said victoriously.

"Amazing, simply amazing" he gushed in awe.

Jaden grinned sheepishly at the compliment before turning serious "Magma Neos, time to attack. Destroy the Dark Magician Girl with Super Heat Meteor." Magma Neos launched a massive fireball at Dark Magician Girl.

Yugi smirked "You forget, my Dark Magician Girl can redirect any attack. Go trap card, Magic Cylinder."

"Oh crap" Jaden cursed.

"Magic Cylinder absorbs your attack and sends it right back at you" Yugi told him as his trap absorbed the attack and fired it right back at Jaden.

"I activate Contact Out" Jaden said quickly. "Magma Neos now defuses." Magma Neos defused thus nullifying the attack since the monster who created it was gone leaving Neos (2500/200), Grand Mole (900/300) and Flare Scarab (500/500) on the field.

"My Magic Cylinder… he dodged it" Yugi said shocked and amazed.

"And I can still attack with Shining Flare Wingman" Jaden reminded him. "Go" he ordered. Shining Flare Wingman charged at Dark Magician Girl forming a massive attack "Shining Flare Wingman deals damage to you equal to the attack points of the monster you destroyed Yugi. It's over, I've won this duel."

"NO WAY" Joey and Triston said in shock while others were silent in shock. Yugi was… actually going to lose.

"Is that what you think" Yugi said with a tiny smirk his voice getting more serious making Jaden pause. This wasn't Yugi's usual voice, it was much more serious. Yugi looked up and his eyes seemed to glow red slightly with massive power. Jaden's own eyes turned gold as a reflex "Here comes my real power Jaden" he said with a fierce tone. "Trap card activate; Dark Renewal. Since you summoned a monster just now I can activate this trap card; now I tribute one of the monsters you summoned and one of mine to summon a Spellcaster monster to the field. So I sacrifice your Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and the Dark Magician Girl." Both monster's vanished into the dark coffin.

"Summon a Spellcaster… is it the Dark Magician" Jaden asked with trepidation.

"Not quite" Yugi told him. "I'm taking the chance to activate the Code Change I have sealed in the Mystical Refpanel. With it I'm going to change the text written on Dark Renewal to a new type."

"Wait, it can't be…" Jaden gasped thinking back to the only card Yugi discarded that Jaden didn't know about. "That card you discarded back then…"

"Right" Yugi's smirk widened. "The monster I'm going to revive isn't a Spellcaster… IT'S A GOD. RETURN TO THE FIELD, SLIFER THE SKY DRAGON." The skies then began to turn dark and spark with lightning and boom with thunder. Out of the sky descended one of the Egyptian God Cards, Slifer the Sky Dragon. The massive God Card roared shaking the entire earth with its power (5000/5000).

"It's really… Slifer" Jaden gasped in awe at the massive God Card.

Yugi smiled "Jaden" he said with honesty in his voice. "Only a God is worthy of being an opponent for a duelist like you." None of Yugi's friends could believe what Yugi just said. That was a compliment that none of them had ever heard before and for Yugi to say it like that…

'Yugi… I will never forget this moment. This wonderful feeling you've given me at this very moment' Jaden thought with pure excitement and joy running through his veins. "Yes, this is what I've been waiting for. To face one of the Egyptian God Cards; this is the most exciting moment of my life."

"That's the spirit" Yugi said with joy. "Now our true duel can begin."

"Right" Jaden said with a nod. Looking at the last card in his hand Jaden knew what he must do "Well with your surprise summoning I guess I have no choice, but to bring my turn to an end. All I need to do now before that is call one final monster to the field."

Yugi knew what was coming and his smirk widened "I sacrifice my Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab, my Elemental HERO Neos and my Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman." All monsters vanished in a flurry of darkness as the ground began to shake again. "And now make way for The Wicked Eraser." Out of the darkness appeared Jaden's Wicked God standing behind him before releasing a loud roar.

"Unbelievable" Mai gasped in awe.

"Both of them have their God Cards on the field" Kaiba said also with wide eyes.

"As you know Yugi The Wicked Eraser's attack points are determined by the mount of cards you have in your hand and since you have 5 The Wicked Eraser's attack points are the same as Slifer" Jaden said. The Wicked Eraser growled at Slifer (5000/5000). "And the best part is that Slifer will go back to the Graveyard at the end of my turn since he only lasts until the end because of your trap card."

"That's right" Chazz remembered. "All God cards, when special summoned by Card effects, only last one turn on the field. When Jaden ends his turn Slifer goes back to the graveyard."

"That means Yugi will be defenseless and I highly doubt he can summon a monster to combat against Jaden's Wicked Eraser in one turn" Axel said.

"You never know mate, he IS the King of Games" Jim said.

"Well my turns over now" Jaden said. Slifer then began to vanish "Which means Slifer the Sky Dragon goes back to the graveyard."

Slifer vanished leaving Yugi's field completely empty; despite that Yugi still looked as confident as ever. 'I don't know if you realize this yet Jaden, but you've already eliminated one of my God Cards because of your Hero's Guild, but you still have two more to face.'

"My turn" Yugi said drawing a card. Looking at the card he drew Yugi let a smirk grace his face. "The card I just drew will protect me from your Wicked God."

"Oh really now" Jaden said. "I'd sure love to see it try."

"Very well; I activate Magician's Fortress" Yugi said. He slammed it into his Field Spell slot. Jaden's Neo Space began to dissipate and in its place came a massive tower behind Yugi with two slightly smaller towers next to it. A dark energy was ejecting from the towers and blanketed the field.

"What is this" Jaden asked looking around.

"It's a card that I was saving for this special occasion" Yugi told him. "I had a feeling I would need it to face against the opponent that would face me. And now behold its power."

"Bring it" Jaden said confidently.

"I activate the effect of Magician's Fortress" Yugi said. "For every Spellcaster monster in my graveyard I can call out a new Spellcaster to take their place. All I have to do is give up 500 life points for each Spellcaster I want to summon. Since I currently have three Spellcaster monsters in the graveyard I can summon up to three Spellcasters."

Jaden narrowed his eyes 'He can summon as many Spellcasters as he wants; it won't stop my Wicked Eraser.'

"So I give up 1500 life points" Yugi said as his life points went down.

Yugi: 2000

Jaden: 1600

"And in return I summon my Magician's Valkyria, my Skilled White Magician and my Skilled Blue Magician" Yugi said as three monsters appeared out on the field. His Magician's Valkyria (1600/1800) looking like a more armored version of the Dark Magician Girl. His Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) very shrouded in mystery as well as his Skilled Blue Magician (1800/1800).

"You may have built up your field again, but your monsters don't compare to my monster's attack points" Jaden told him.

"That may be true" Yugi conceded. "But attack points don't mean everything. To end my turn I play the spell card Magical Hats." Four massive hats appeared on the field and they completely covered Yugi's monsters and shuffled rapidly around the field. "Now you have to guess where my monsters are Jaden; you get only one chance, but if you guess right then you win the duel. Guess wrong and I'll summon a monster you can't defend yourself against."

Jaden grunted slightly at the ominous promise before looking at the field. "Gutsy move on Yugi's part" Chazz commented. "He only has a 25% chance of Jaden guessing wrong; if Jaden guess right on any of those monsters then he'll win the duel."

Everyone was silent waiting for Jaden to go "Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained" he finally said drawing a card. "Wicked Eraser, attack the hat on the far left" he ordered. His Wicked God roared before launching a massive blast of dark energy that hit the hat and destroyed it in a mighty explosion. "Did I get it" he asked out loud with trepidation.

The smoke cleared revealing a blank field making Yugi smirk "You guessed… poorly."

"Ah, no way" Syrus gasped along with everyone else. "Jaden actually guessed wrong."

Jaden growled slightly at his bad guess "Like I told you Jaden, you had only one chance to guess right. Now you face the most powerful monster in my deck." Yugi drew a card and a golden aura surrounded his body with the wind picking up. "I now sacrifice Magician's Valkyria, Skilled Dark Magician and Skilled Blue Magician." The hat's vanished as did all three of Yugi's monsters. When Yugi began to chant everyone knew what he was summoning:

Almighty protector of the sun and sky

I beg of thee, please head my cry

Transform thyself from orb of light

And bring me victory in this fight

I beseech thee, grace our humble game

But first I shall call out thy name

"Winged Dragon of Ra" Yugi shouted. A golden glow surrounded the entire area "Behold my Egyptian God" he bellowed slamming the card on the duel disk. The disk sparked erratically and Ra's orb appeared on the field and began to transform.

"Now what's Jaden going to do" Jesse said in shock as Ra appeared in all of his magnificent glory with a massive roar.

Yugi called out "Jaden your true test begin; Ra's attack and defense are determined by the totaled points of the monsters I sacrificed."

'Let's see… 1600+1900+1800 equals' Jaden did the math in his head and gasped. "5300 attack points" he shouted in shock.

"Exactly" Yugi said as Ra's attack showed (5300/5300). "Now Winged Dragon of Ra attack his Wicked Eraser." Ra gave a loud roar and launched a massive blast of golden energy that enveloped Jaden's monster and nearly blew Jaden off the field and the side of the mountain.

Yugi: 2000

Jaden: 300

Jaden recovered himself and panted slightly from the effects of Ra's attack "And with that I'll end my turn" Yugi told him.

Jaden still panted slightly his body shaking from the attack "Jaden, are you okay" Yubel asked concerned.

"I'm good" he replied silently before standing up and breathing in slightly. 'That was a powerful attack; how did he know he'd draw Ra at that exact moment' Jaden wondered. Looking at the one card in his hand Jaden knew if he didn't draw the right card he'd be finished. 'Alright deck, it's now or never. Come through for me.'

Jaden drew a card and smiled slightly. "I place one card facedown and play Card of Sanctity. Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hand." Jaden got to draw six cards while Yugi only drew two cards. Looking at his hand Jaden smirked "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode" he said summoning out the very card Yugi gave him. "And that's it for now."

Yugi frowned slightly at the move; that was it. "Your Winged Kuriboh mighty protect you for this turn, but your defenses will still be ripped to shreds." Drawing a card Yugi said "Alright Winged Dragon of Ra destroy his Winged Kuriboh." Winged Dragon of Ra launched its attack.

Jaden gave a smirk "Nice try Yugi, but I knew you'd make that move, which is why I was prepared with this facedown card."

"You know effects don't work on Winged Dragon of Ra" Yugi reminded him.

"Who said it's for Ra" Jaden smirked making Yugi frown. "My facedown card is Transcendent Wings."

Yugi gasped "Oh no."

"And with this card comes The Winged Dragon of Ra's defeat" Jaden said victoriously. "I send two cards to the graveyard and in return Winged Kuriboh evolves into Winged Kuriboh LV 10." Winged Kuriboh glowed brightly and once it died away there was Winged Kuriboh with a mighty pair of wings and armor around its body (300/200).

"And what do you plan to do with that" Yugi demanded.

"I'll show you" Jaden smirked. "By sacrificing Winged Kuriboh LV 10 all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed and you take damage equal to the attack points of the monsters destroyed. I've won Yugi." Winged Kuriboh LV 10 charged at the Winged Dragon of Ra and hit making the God monster roar before it was destroyed in a mighty explosion.

"Yugi/Daddy" Tea and Allison shouted in worry for Yugi. When the blast cleared Yugi was still standing with life points intact making the cheer.

"What, that attack should've finished you" Jaden said in shock.

"Normally yes" Yugi said calmly. "However, I had my Kuriboh in my hand. So by simply discarding my Kuriboh I negated all battle damage."

Jaden 'tsked' slightly at Yugi's comeback "Alright then, I place two cards facedown and that ends my turn."

"My turn now" Yugi said drawing a card. "I now activate Black Luster Ritual."

"Oh no" was all Jaden could say.

"Oh yes" Yugi replied with a smirk. "As you remember from your last duel, the Black Luster Ritual works by me tributing some monsters. I sacrifice my Buster Blader and my Magician of Faith." Yugi discarded the two monsters in his hand "And now I summon Black Luster Soldier." The legendary ritual monster appeared on the field with a grunt (3000/2500). "Now Black Luster Soldier attack his life points directly."

Black Laster Soldier lifted its blade and launched a blast of energy at Jaden. "Hold the attack Yugi, I activate the spell card A Hero Lives" Jaden called activating the card just in time. "Since I don't have a monster on the field I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO monster from my deck. I just have to give up half my life points."

Jaden lost half his life points.

Yugi: 2000

Jaden: 150

"I summon Elemental HERO Stratos" Jaden called as his monster appeared on the field in defense mode (1800/300). "And when Stratos is summoned to the field I can take 1 HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand." Jaden took his card and reshuffled his deck.

"Not a bad move Jaden, but your monster is still destroyed" Yugi reminded him as Black Luster Soldier destroyed his Stratos. "I end my turn with one card facedown."

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. "I summon Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy" and so he did. Out came on of Jaden's Evil HERO's (300/600). "Since you control a monster Infernal Prodigy counts as a special summon. I now sacrifice Infernal Prodigy in order to summon Elemental HERO Neos Valkyrie." On the field appeared the female version of Elemental HERO Neos (2000/1500). "And since Infernal Prodigy was sacrificed on the same turn he was summoned I get to draw an additional card from my deck."

Jaden drew his one card before gasping when he saw what it was. Then he smirked almost maliciously at Yugi. "Alright Yugi I think it's put your soldier down" he smirked.

"And just how do you plan to do that" Yugi asked inquisitively.

"It starts with this" Jaden said showing Yugi the card making Yugi wide eyed. "I play The Armor of Gilgamesh." On the field appeared a massive golden colored lion with a loud roar. "And with this card my victory is coming closer for now I merge Neos Valkyrie with the Armor of Gilgamesh." Both the large lion and Neos Valkyrie merged together and the monster that came out was Neos Valkyrie wearing ancient robes reminiscent of Egyptian times while riding atop the large golden lion. "Say hello to Neos Valkyrie the Lion Queen" Jaden smirked (2500/1800).

Yugi's mind suddenly flashed with visions of his time in the past when dealing with Dartz and the Orichalcos. He was reminded of the Legendary Dragons "Your monster may be unique, but she's not strong enough to take down my Black Luster Soldier."

"Not right now, but when I activate her special ability she will be" Jaden smirked making Yugi frown. "Her ability allows me to remove from play one 'Neos' Monster in my graveyard and in she gains half of their attack points."

"What" Yugi gasped.

"You heard me" Jaden smirked. "I remove Elemental HERO Magma Neos from my graveyard and now my monster gains half of Magma Neos attack points." Jaden's monster let loose a grunt while the lion growled as the attack strength went up (2500+1500=4000/1800).

"4000 attack points" Yugi said in shock.

"And you're Soldier's about to feel them all" Jaden said. "Now Neos Valkyrie attack his Black Luster Soldier with Legend Strike." His monster charged forward while the rider formed a massive ball of energy. Together they struck Yugi's monster and destroyed it in a mighty explosion.

Yugi: 1000

Jaden: 150

Off the field Joey frowned slightly "Wait a minute; I'm seeing a pattern here."

He got confused looks in response "What do you mean Joey" Serenity asked.

"I mean look at what he's played in the last three duels" Joey said. "First he plays a card 'The Dagger of Hassan' against me. Then he played 'The Chains of Enkidu' against Kaiba and now this card called 'The Armor of Gilgamesh' against Yugi. It's a pattern."

"You're right Wheeler" Kaiba agreed with him, shocking right. "There is a pattern here; these are new cards that Jaden never had before and I can think of only one place where he got them from." Kaiba turned to Pegasus as did the others.

Pegasus merely laughed slightly "Oh well, I've been found out. Yes I gave Jaden those cards as a gift for him saving the world and stopping the great evil. I figured it was the least I could do."

Well there was that mystery solved; now all that was left was to see how Yugi would deal with this threat. Yugi recovered from the blast "I see" he murmured out loud. "These cards of yours; they're quite deadly."

"That's because they're based off of legendary heroes of real life" Jaden told him. "The Heroes of real life are more powerful than any."

"That is very true" Yugi conceded as he drew one card. "I play my Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Yugi drew his two cards and widened his eyes when he saw the card he drew. Then he smiled slightly "I play the spell card Emergency Previsions. Now I destroy my facedown card" he said revealing his Dark Magic Retribution before it was destroyed. "And gain 1000 life points."

Yugi: 2000

Jaden: 150

"Next I summon my Queen's Knight" Yugi said summoning his female knight (1500/1600). "And now I'll show you my own heroes of legend. A legend that dates back 10,000 years ago."

Kaiba and Joey widened their eyes "Does he…" Kaiba said shocked.

"He does…" Joey said equally shocked.

"Now I play Legend of Heart" Yugi said playing the spell card. A fire lit the field and three swords appeared "I give up 1000 life points and sacrifice my Queen's Knight." Yugi's monster vanished and his life points dropped.

Yugi: 1000

Jaden: 150

The fire increased "And now this lets me summon the Legendary Dragons" Yugi called. Out of the fire appeared three knights, one in teal armor, one in blue armor and the other in red armor all with the same attack and defense points (2800/1200). "Allow me to introduce Legendary Knight's Timaeus, Critias and Hermos."

Jaden didn't know why, but he gulped slightly when he saw those monsters and their deadly gaze. "Those knights of yours may be powerful, but my monster is still stronger."

"That's only for right now" Yugi smirked. "I activate the other special ability of my Magician's Fortress. For every spell card I've activated since I've activated that card my Magician's Fortress has gained spell counters. And I've activated three spell cards since then meaning I have three spell counters on it."

"Okay, and what does that mean" Jaden asked.

"It means I can summon a Spellcaster monster from my graveyard for each counter I have; all I have to do is remove the spell counter for every monster I summon" Yugi said making Jaden gasp. "I remove Spell counter and summon back the Dark Magician."

Yugi's Dark Magician came right back to the field (2500/2100). "Next I activate the special ability of Legendary Knight Timaeus. Timaeus absorb the power of my Dark Magician." Dark Magician disappeared into energy and was absorbed into Timaeus' sword. Timaeus' attack power rose rapidly (2800+2500=5300/1200).

"5300 attack points" Jaden gasped in shock.

"Yes, you fought a good duel Jaden, but it's over now" Yugi said. "Timaeus attack his monster with your Sword of Justice." Timaeus roared as he charged at Jaden's monster before slashing it down in a mighty explosion. "Game over."

"Not quite" Jaden's voice called making Yugi frown. The smoke cleared showing Jaden was still there with his life points intact.

"Explain yourself, how are you still standing" Yugi demanded.

"It's the other special ability of my monster" Jaden told him. "When she's destroyed I can send three cards from my hand to my graveyard. In return all battle damage becomes zero." Yugi's frown increased "And to make it better I also get two 'Armor Tokens.'" Two tokens made of floating golden armor appeared on the field (0/0). "So my life points are safe from your other two knights."

"Your life points may be safe, but your defense is about to be wiped out. Critias, Hermos attack" Yugi ordered. Critias and Hermos charged and roared as they slashed down the armor tokens. "And with that I'll end my turn."

Jaden breathed in slightly; he was in a tight situation facing Yugi and his Legendary Knights while he himself had no monsters on the field and only two cards in his hand, none of which would help him.

Drawing his card Jaden looked surprised "Well what do you know; it's the same card you drew your last turn. I think I'll play it; go Pot of Greed. Now I get two more cards" Jaden drew his two cards and his eyes widened before he let loose a small chuckle that gradually grew in volume, but still remained relatively calm.

"This will truly be a battle of hero against hero" Jaden said. "I activate Legend of Hero's." The spell card depicted a single set of lion eyes with three spiral swords. A massive wave of light blanketed the entire area "First I must send five cards from my deck to the graveyard." Jaden discarded the top five cards from his deck and sent them to the graveyard. "And now with this spell card I can summon out Enkidu, Hassan and Gilgamesh in their true forms."

Out of the light three lions jumped and roared before exploding with energy and then when the energy finally cleared three beings stood. The three beings were each dressed in very thick armor, but each were a different color; one gold, one silver and one bronze. Each of their hair colors symbolized with their armor color with all of them having eyes of fire.

"Allow me to introduce Legendary HERO Gilgamesh, Legendary HERO Enkidu and Legendary HERO Hassan" Jaden said as all three knights drew their spiral swords with all of them having the same attack (3200/2000).

"IN THE NAME OF THE SUPREME KING WE ARE BORN" all three of them said.

"Legendary HERO's, oh no" Yugi gasped as he was outmatched again. Then all three Legendary HERO's swung their swords up before slamming them to the ground. A shockwave shot from their swords and hit Yugi's Magician's Fortress towers and they were destroyed. "My Fortress… what did you do?"

"When all three Legendary HERO's are on the field they can destroy all Field Spell cards on the field" Jaden said with a smirk. "And now it's time to end this; Gilgamesh attack Critias with Sword of Rupture." Gilgamesh roared as his spiral sword rotated before he launched a massive beam at Critias.

"Critias defend" Yugi said. Critias' sword blocked the attack. "Now I shall use Critias' special ability. An ability that allows me to call back the power of one spell or trap card." Jaden didn't even look worried "And the trap I call back is Mirror Force. Now Critias launch the attack back." Critias roared as he launched the attack back with the help of Mirror Force.

"Enkidu defend" Jaden commanded. "Use your power and stop the attack with your Sword of Conquest."

"Yes my king" Enkidu said jumping in front of the others with his sword raised. The rebound attack of Critias hit before it was dispelled.

"What, but how" Yugi said shocked.

"Enkidu's special ability is that he can merge with a spell card from my graveyard" Jaden smirked. "Since I discarded five cards in order to summon him I also ended up discarding Mystical Space Typhoon and I had Enkidu call upon its power to stop your Mirror Force." Yugi grunted as his attack was stopped "And now Enkidu attack Critias." Enkidu roared and charged forward before slashing right though Critias making the Legendary Knight roar before he was destroyed.

"Critias, no" Yugi shouted.

Yugi: 600

Jaden: 150

"One down and two knights to go" Jaden smirked. "Hassan it is your turn now. Attack Hermos with Sword of Emulator." Hassan charged towards Hermos sword glowing with energy.

"Hermos activate your special ability; absorb the power of my monster" Yugi ordered as his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian appeared briefly before being absorbed into Hermos' sword. Both monster's clashed creating a massive out wave of energy, but they still stayed staid on the field unharmed. "Thanks to my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian Hermos is safe form all monsters with 1900 points or more."

Jaden grunted in frustration; no matter what he tried Yugi kept stopping him and since he had attacked with all his knights he had no choice, but to end his turn. "Fine, your move Yugi" he said.

"Thank you" Yugi drew a card. "Legendary Knight Timaeus attack Legendary HERO Gilgamesh." Timaeus charged at Gilgamesh his sword glinting.

"Hassan, defend" Jaden ordered. Hassan jumped in front of Gilgamesh and intercepted Timaeus' strike ending in another stalemate before Timaeus was pushed back.

"How did you stop Timaeus" Yugi demanded.

"With Hassan's special ability" Jaden explained. "He can assimilate the special ability of any monster that has been played, put in the graveyard or removed from play in either graveyard. So I had him use the power of my Necro Gardna; that's how he was able to stop Timaeus' attack."

Yugi was also getting frustrated, but also having fun. Every move that he made was countered perfectly by Jaden "I guess I have no choice, but to end my turn with one card facedown."

"My move" Jaden said drawing a card. Eyes narrowing he said "I place one card facedown and I activate Gilgamesh's special ability. An Ability known as Rule of the King."

"Rule of the King" Yugi said in confusion.

"What it does is allow me to take one monster in my graveyard and remove it from play and all monsters whose level are lower than the monster I removed play are removed from play as well" Jaden explained.

"Removed from play" Yugi said shocked.

Smirking he replied "Oh yes Yugi and now it's time to say goodbye to those knights; I remove from play my Wicked Eraser and since he's a level 10 monster and your knights are only level 8 both of them are removed from play." Timaeus and Hermos screamed before they exploded leaving Yugi defenseless. "In exchange for using that ability Gilgamesh is forbidden from attacking this turn, but my other knights can. Enkidu end this."

Enkidu gave a battle cry and charged at Yugi ready to end the duel. "Not so fast Jaden, Negate Attack will save my life points" Yugi called activating his trap card. Enkidu's attack was absorbed "My life points are safe and your battle phase is over."

"Good counter, but it won't help you again; next turn my Legendary HERO's will finish you" Jaden said.

Yugi looked at his deck 'Unfortunately Jaden is right; I don't have a card that can save me next time. If I don't draw the right card this turn than the duel is over.' Looking over at his friends and family he saw them all with supportive, encouraging and loving looks. Smiling Yugi thought 'Heart of the Cards… guide me.'

Drawing his card Yugi looked at it "I think it's time for a new hand don't you Jaden?" Jaden frowned "I play Card of Demise." Yugi discarded the three cards in his hand "I draw five new cards from my deck, but if I have cards in my hand after five turns I must discard them."

"This duel won't last five more turns" Jaden told him confidently.

"You're right, it won't because I plan on ending it in two turns or less" Yugi said just as confidently. "I play the spell card Dark Matter Illusion." Yugi's spell card depicted transparent monsters coming out of a dark matter hole. "With this spell card I can bring back every monster of mine that was destroyed or removed from the field in the last three turns."

"What, every monster" Jaden gasped in shock.

"Exactly" Yugi responded. "So I recall back to the field Legendary Knight's Timaeus, Hermos and Critias." Timaeus, Critias and Hermos all appeared back on the field (2800/1200). "And not only them, but Dark Magician and Queen's Knight both return as well." Yugi's famed Dark Magician (2500/2100) and Queen's Knight (1500/1600) also appeared back on the field.

"You may have built your field back up, but none of them can match the power of my Legendary HERO's" Jaden told him. "And even if they could they're not allowed to attack this turn because of your Dark Matter Illusion."

"That's true I can't attack this turn, but that doesn't mean I can't summon a monster or activate monster effects" Yugi reminded him making Jaden frown nervously. "Now behold my final beast; I sacrifice Legendary Knight Timaeus, Critias and Hermos." All three of Yugi's knight's vanished from the field and Jaden knew what was coming next. "Now I summon Obelisk the Tormentor."

Out of a mighty pillar of light Obelisk the Tormentor appeared looking as menacing as ever with a glaring face and massive muscles with fists clenched at his side (4000/4000).

Jaden had a bad feeling that he was about to find out why Obelisk was known as 'The Tormentor.'

And he was right "Obelisk might not be able to attack, but he can use his special ability. To activate it all I must do is offer my Dark Magician and my Queen's Knight." Obelisk reached down and grabbed onto both Dark Magician and Queen's Knight before assimilating their power. "Now Obelisk destroy all the monsters on Jaden's field." Obelisk let loose a mighty blast and Jaden's monsters let out their own screams before they were destroyed. The backlash was so powerful it knocked Jaden to the ground.

"JADEN" all his friends shouted to him. Jaden groaned slightly as he really felt that one. He pushed himself back onto his feet and stared at the imposing monster that was Obelisk the Tormentor. He didn't have a card in his hand that could defeat Obelisk nor did he have a monster that could defeat it. His facedown card couldn't help him until he got a powerful enough monster out on the field.

"You're not giving up are you" Yubel asked him.

Jaden didn't respond for a moment as he was still regaining his breath before smirking 'Not a chance' he responded. Jaden put his fingers on his deck, idly noting he had maybe 15 cards left until he was out of cards, which meant he had to finish this soon.

Drawing his card Jaden looked at it before looking to his hand. "Okay Yugi I'm about to make my final move" Jaden called. Yugi frowned slightly "First I play Monster Reborn to bring back Elemental HERO Neos." Neos reappeared on the field with a grunt (2500/2000).

Yugi smiled "Bringing your ace back to the field. Although I'm afraid he won't help you."

"Alone he won't, but with another he will" Jaden rebutted. "I play the spell card Fusion Recovery and with it I can bring back polymerization and a monster that was used for fusion. And the one I'm choosing… is The Armor of Gilgamesh."

"What, but that's a spell card" Yugi pointed out.

"Not quite; it's also treated as a monster card" Jaden told him. "So the same principals apply. Now I activate The Armor of Gilgamesh and use it on my Elemental HERO Neos." The golden lion appeared on the field once more. Both it and Neos then began to fuse together and then formed a monster shaped like Neos, but with golden plates of armor over its body along with a long golden sword in the right hand. "And together they form Armored HERO Neos" Jaden said as his monster glowed with power (2900/2600).

"Your monster may be powerful, but it only has 2900 attack points while my Obelisk has 4000 attack points" Yugi pointed out.

Jaden closed his eyes slightly "I know Yugi, I knew that the moment you brought Obelisk out, but tell me… aren't you forgetting the card I placed facedown two turns ago."

Yugi widened his eyes before spotting the facedown card on Jaden's field "That card."

"Yes, it's time I reveal it" Jaden said. "Trap card activate; Neos Spiral Force. This trap card doubles the attack points of one monster out on the field and I choose my Armored HERO Neos." Armored HERO Neos' attack points doubled (2900+2900=5800/2600).

"5800 attack points" Triston gaped in awe.

"But Obelisk has only 4000" Joey said in disbelief. "And Yugi only has 600 life points left and no trap or spell cards on the field, which means…"

"As soon as Jaden attacks…" Mai continued.

"It's over…" Tea said quietly in shock.

Unlike his friends Yugi had a small smile on his face with his eyes closed 'This was the greatest duel of my life. It's been an honor Jaden' he thought before opening his eyes. "Go on Jaden, make your move" he encouraged when Jaden stood there.

"Alright… Armored HERO Neos, ATTACK" he roared. Armored HERO Neos roared as he jumped into the air armor gleaming in the sunlight before dive-bombing Obelisk the Tormentor and laying a single strike on the mighty Egyptian God. A massive explosion littered the entire area that could be seen from the beaches of Kaiba Island.

When it died down Yugi stood there silently.

Jaden: 150

Yugi: 0

It was officially over; Yugi had lost and Jaden had won. The holograms disappeared and Jaden felt like all the strength had been drained from his body. Falling to his knees he was in a somewhat state of shock. Yugi walked towards him "Congratulations, you did it" Yugi said. Jaden was still in a small state of shock "Jaden, a champion and King of Games does not belong on his knees."

Finally everything seemed to set in as Jaden stood back up with Yugi next to him. With that Yugi turned and faced everyone present and all the cameras "It is my pleasure to announce my successor as World Champion and the Second King of Games, Jaden Yuki."

At once the cheers just exploded; next thing Jaden knew all his friends rushed at him. Then after that Chazz, Jesse, Axel and Jim all tossed him into the air still cheering. Everyone around the world had seen the victory from Domino all the way to Duel Academy. All of Jaden's friends that remained there were cheering as were his old teachers.

Finally everyone else began to clap as well as Jaden was let down and being clapped upon by everyone with the cheers still being so loud and deafening that he couldn't hear right.

After about ten minutes of nonstop cheering Jaden stood in front of Yugi and Kaiba. "With your victory over Yugi Muto you are now crowned World Champion and Second King of Games" Kaiba told him. "And as such you have earned what denotes you as the King of Games."

Kaiba stepped aside allowing Yugi to step forward. Yugi reached into his deck and pulled out three cards before handing them to Jaden. Jaden took the cards and was wide eyed when he saw that it was the Egyptian God Cards. He looked at Yugi with shock and confusion.

Yugi smiled "The Egyptian God Cards is what denotes a duelist as the King of Games for only someone of that caliber has the strength necessary to wield those cards. Hold onto them, take care of them, and use them in duels until the one duelists that comes that will take over when your time is done."

Looking back the cards Jaden felt a smile come to his face before looking back up "Thank you Yugi." Yugi smiled and nodded to Jaden.

"So as the next King of Games, what are you going to do now" Yugi asked.

Jaden looked over to his left at Alexis with a smile before turning back "I have a previous engagement that needs to be done" he replied.

13 DAYS LATER

"Do you, Alexis Rhodes, take Jaden Yuki to be your husband" a minister asked.

Jaden and Alexis stood next to a beautiful Cliffside dressed in a tuxedo and white dress respectfully. Sitting in the seats behind them were all of their friends and family that were invited to the wedding. Both Jaden and Alexis' mother were crying in happiness while their fathers were smiling. Atticus was snapping photos left and right.

"I do" Alexis replied lovingly staring into Jaden's eyes.

"Do you, Jaden Yuki, take Alexis Rhodes, to be your wife" the minister asked him.

"I do" Jaden replied just as lovingly staring into Alexis' eyes.

"Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you man and wife; you may kiss the bride" the minister said stepping back. Jaden and Alexis leaned in and kissed and the entire area exploded into cheers. Jesse, playing as Best Man, was happily clapping behind Jaden, as was Jasmine, the Maiden of Honor.

Then came the bouquet toss and the Garter toss. Everyone laughed when it was Jesse who caught the Garter and Jasmine who caught the Bouquet. The two of them blushed, but secretly smiled at each other.

After the toss both Jaden and Alexis ran towards the cliff waving goodbye to everyone before jumping off. Everyone watched as the Rainbow Dark Dragon came to life and flew off with both Jaden and Alexis riding atop. Riding off into the distance towards their honeymoon site at Atlantis Paradise Hotel Jaden and Alexis shared one last kiss together that expressed all of their love.

Like it? Love it? Review it. Flames will be ignored.


	17. Chapter 17

Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Seventeen)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

15 YEARS LATER

It had been a long fifteen years since the duel that took place on Kaiba Island. In those long fifteen years everything had changed. Domino City had transformed into a Metropolis thanks to Kaiba Corp. So much so that the city had been renamed New Domino City.

Jaden Yuki had changed much as well in those last fifteen years not only retaining his title as King of Games even longer than Yugi did, but also took a partial job at Kaiba Corp. by helping Kaiba test out new dueling systems and new modules. Together they designed and tested a new way of dueling known as Turbo Dueling and it was a massive hit with duelists everywhere.

Jaden was also responsible for helping prevent a massive disaster that would have destroyed Domino City. The Ener-D system of Kaiba Corp. was almost completely overloaded intentionally, but Jaden managed to calm the core down and prevent it from splitting Domino and taking countless amounts of lives.

Jaden, now 32 years old, looked like he had barely aged as he still retained a very youthful appearance. His multicolored hair remained spiky and the same length as it did in his youth. He had grown slightly taller and had gotten more muscular, but overall he had stayed the same and remained in Domino City his whole life.

"Jason, c'mon" a youthful teenage voice called. The one who shouted was a boy who looked to be a young teenager and had slightly spiky dirty blond hair with streaks of brown in it along with dark brown eyes.

"I'm coming Jared; you duel hasn't even started yet" another voice shouted. This one was a boy as well with messy teal colored hair and storm grey eyes. Together the two boys ran through the streets of New Domino City dodging people left and right.

They had just turned a corner and started to take off at high speed only for something to grab the back of their collars making them comically choke before they fell to the ground. "WHAT THE HECK" the two of them shouted turning around and yelling at the two people who grabbed them.

The ones who grabbed them were two girls. One of them had multi-colored hair like Jared only it was a mix of purple and black with blond strands and bangs in the front. Her hair flowed down her back and her blue eyes shined brightly.

The other one was a girl with equally astounding beauty as the first girl as she had long white hair with a slight blue tint to it and pale skin with short bands on her forehead. She also had baby blue eyes and was quite tall.

"Oh, Allison, Kiara" Jared blinked when he recognized the two girls.

Allison Muto, daughter of Yugi and Tea Muto, crossed her arms over her chest staring disapprovingly at the two boys "You two are always late, running around the city causing problems. If you hadn't of slept in you wouldn't be having this problem."

"But I was tired" Jared whined childishly.

Kiara giggled slightly "Come on Ali, it's no harm. They're just excited to watch their father's duel."

"Yeah" Jason said with a nod. "We see our dad's duel all the time, but to see them actually duel side by side as a tag team is a rarity. It's an opportunity that can't be missed especially considering their opponents. I'm surprised you two aren't more excited."

"Of course we're excited" Allison said. "Nowadays dad doesn't duel very often so of course I want to go watch."

"Then why are we wasting time here when we could be at the Dueling Dome by now" Jared called out. Looking at his watch he grunted "That's it; Jason."

"I know" Jason nodded. With that both of them scooped the girls into their arms; Jared had Allison and Jason had Kiara.

Kiara squeaked with a red face while Allison blushed in embarrassment "Jared, put me down" she shrieked.

"Once we get to the dome" he shouted as he and Jason ran off with both girls in their arms. Thankfully no one was really paying attention to them so they ran without really being noticed.

SCENE CHANGE

A few minutes later they got to the entrance to the Dueling Dome. "Ah, we're here" Jason said before remembering he had Kiara in his arms. "Sorry" he said quickly setting her back on her two feet.

Still blushing Kiara responded shyly "I-It's okay."

Allison on the other hand "Curse you Jared Yuki" she bellowed chasing him around waving a fist at him making him flail his arms comically in fear. "You are just lucky no one saw this or I'd pound you."

"Wah, why are you so angry" he cried still running from her. "It's not like you didn't enjoy it."

Now blushing even brighter she shouted "That's not the point."

"Uh guys" Jason called to them stopping the chasing. "The duel begins in two minutes.

"AH, LET'S GET INSIDE" they both shouted.

SCENE CHANGE

The entire dome was packed to the brim with duelists from all around the world with all of them cheering loudly. The four teenagers charged into the dome "Alright we made it" Jared cheered.

"You just barely made it; you're just like your father" a new voice said. Turning they saw a man wearing an all-black outfit with slightly slick black hair and a few age lines around his eyes.

"It's Uncle Chazz" both Jason and Jared said with grins.

Chazz Princeton grunted slightly "I told you brats not to call me that" he grumbled.

"Oh come on Chazzy, it shows how much they love you despite your grumpiness" the woman sitting next to him said. She had soft brown eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail; sitting in her lap was a small toddler with messy black hair and dark grey eyes.

"Hmph, you spoil them Mindy and you know it" Chazz said to her.

"Hey, I'm the aunt, it's my job" she grinned at him.

"Jason, come sit you down; we saved you seats" another voice called. It came from a woman with long auburn hair and soft grey eyes.

"Okay mom" Jason called to her. "Come on guys" he said to his friends as they all walked to the seats and sat next to Jason's mom, Jasmine Anderson.

"Let me guess, you and Jared slept in too late again" Jasmine said.

"No" Jason denied. "I just had a hard time waking Jared up."

"Hey don't pin it all on me; you had the same problem" Jared said to him.

Another woman next to Jared laughed "You two really are your father's sons." This woman was a woman of astounding beauty; her name, Alexis Yuki. Even in her early thirties she still looked a woman who just barely left her teen years. Her soft hazel eyes shown with motherly affection as she gazed at her son. "He had the same problem in school. It drove Syrus nuts."

"Of course it did" a voice said behind them making them turn around. It was a man with light grey eyes and light blue hair pulled into a long ponytail behind him. "You were there Alexis, you know how hard it was to get Jaden up in the morning. Heck, don't you still have problems getting him up in the morning?"

Alexis giggled "Not anymore" she said with an impish grin.

"How do you do it" Syrus asked her with curiosity and amazement.

Another woman giggled "Come now darling; you know it's a woman's thing." This woman was a woman of equally astounding beauty as Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine. She had slightly tan skin with shoulder length brown hair and jade colored eyes. She was holding a little girl in her arms that had her father's hair and her mother's eyes.

"Women things are complex" Syrus groaned leaning back in his seat.

His wife, Mana, giggled again "That's why their called 'woman things.' Because guys will never understand it."

"Tell me about it" Jason and Jared murmured to each other. Their mothers, Allison and Kiara giggled at them. The giggling promptly stopped when the lights began to go out and then the stadium lit up making the entire stadium explode into cheers.

"Ladies and gentleman" an MC announced. "Welcome to Kaiba Dome on this fine Saturday afternoon. Today, live from New Domino City, we're bringing you a magnificent duel with the four greatest duelists in the world dueling together in tag-teams against one another."

The crowd cheered again "On one side we have the Head of Kaiba Corp. and his partner the First King of Games. Please welcome Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto."

The crowd cheered as Yugi and Kaiba walked out onto the field. Despite being in their early forties both men had aged rather gracefully as they had very few wrinkles on their faces with the most prominent being around their mouths and eyes.

"And their opponents" the MC continued loudy. "They're considered the greatest Tag-Team that's ever existed. The team consists of the Intercontinental Champion and Yugi Muto's successor to the King of Game's title. They are… Jesse Anderson and Jaden Yuki."

The crowd exploded into massive cheers as Jaden and Jesse walked out into the field. Both of them walked back straight and brimming with absolute confidence. Jaden stood tall and proud with his dark outfit practically gleaming in the spotlight and Jesse still with his hair in the same style, his emerald eyes shining with youthful confidence despite his age and his muscles rippling from his sleeveless shirt. All the woman were fawning over them.

Alexis and Jasmine were smirking 'They're ours' they thought.

The four duelists met in the middle of the field staring before all of them smiled with nods before preparing for their duel. They shuffled their decks before turning and taking their spots in their dueling platforms high in the air.

"GAME ON" the four of them shouted getting the crowd to cheer loudly.

Jaden/Jesse: 8000

Yugi/Kaiba: 8000

SCENE CHANGE

The duel was simply and absolutely amazing watching the best duelists in the world dueling. Allison, Jared, Kiara and Jason were staring in absolute awe as they watched their fathers duel. It was simply awe inspiring and why they all aspired to be just like their father's.

But eventually the duel had begun to dwindle down and the scores stood as such.

Jaden/Jesse: 3300

Yugi/Kaiba: 3000

Kaiba had his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the field while Yugi had his Dark Paladin on the field. Jesse currently had his Rainbow Knight on the field while Jaden had Elemental HERO Neos and two cards facedown.

And it was currently Jaden's move "My draw" he called drawing a card. Looking at it he smirked "Hey Jesse, mind if I borrow your monster."

"My monster is yours" Jesse said in return.

"Cool then I use this" Jaden said showing his spell card. "Polymerization fuses Elemental HERO Neos and Rainbow Knight together." Both monster's merged together and formed a brand new monster. It looked like Neos, but with a massive sword and shield and tunic "Say hello to the one and only Elemental HERO Neos Knight" Jaden announced making the crowd scream in excitement (2500/1000). "And you should know that Neos Knight gains attack equal to half of the monster used to fuse it together so that's an extra 1400 attack points." Neos Knight got even stronger (2500+1400=3900/1000).

"That's not enough to destroy my Ultimate Dragon" Kaiba told him.

"I know that, which is why I have this" Jaden said activing his trap card. "Go Neos Spiral Force. Now Neos Knight's attack points are doubled." Neos Knight glowed as his attack points doubled (3900+3900=7800/1000).

"7800 attack points" Yugi and Kaiba gasped.

"Take it Jaden" Jesse smirked.

"With pleasure" Jaden said. "Neos Knight attack the Ultimate Dragon." Neos Knight charged forward and slashed down the Ultimate Dragon destroying it. The crowd cheered loudly "Luckily for you Neos Knight doesn't deal any damage when he attacks, but he can attack twice so Neos Knight destroy the Dark Paladin."

Neos Knight charged again and destroyed Dark Paladin leaving their field barren. "We're not done yet Jaden" Yugi called to him.

"Actually you are" Jaden said with another smirk. "I activate my other facedown card; De-Fusion. Neos Knight, time to split." Both Neos (2500/2000) and Rainbow Knight (2800/2600) returned to the field. "Let's end it Jesse."

"Right behind you partner" Jesse said. "Rainbow Knight…"

"Elemental HERO Neos" Jaden continued.

"ATTACK" they both shouted. Both Rainbow Knight and Elemental HERO Neos charged forward and slashed down both of them and that was it.

Jaden/Jesse: 3300

Yugi/Kaiba: 0

"And the winners are Jesse Anderson and Jaden Yuki" the MC screamed as the crowd erupted into massive cheers. No cheers were louder than Jared and Jason as they jumped in their seats at their father's victory.

Allison and Kiara were clapping politely; even though their fathers had lost it would never diminish the massive amounts of respect they had for their fathers. They were the original Champion and King of Games and nothing would ever change that.

SCENE CHANGE

At Kaiba Corp. a small get together was held after the duel. Kaiba sat off privately to the side like he always did, but was joined by his wife Kisara who sat with him silently holding his hand. Kaiba actually smiled softly at her showing how much love he had for her.

That smile had left when he saw his only precious daughter being chummy with Jason. Kisara had to whisper calming words to him when he saw Jason say something that made Kiara blush and giggle.

Yugi was sitting off to the side with Joey, Tea, Triston, Mai and Serenity. Like all their friends they had aged gracefully as well. Their children were off to the side having a mock duel with Joey's son Michael, coming out on top. He cheered just as loudly as his father did.

Likewise Chazz and Syrus were having a friendly duel by sitting at a table with their children in their laps pointing out cards for their father's to play. It was really adorable; in fact so adorable that Mana and Mindy were taking pictures with their phones. Jasmine and Alexis were off to the side laughing at them as they took pictures. Jaden and Jesse were sitting with them smiling at Chazz and Syrus.

One person wasn't there right now; Jared Yuki stood outside on the balcony staring out into the distance. His brown eyes had a slight melancholic look to them as his blond and brown hair blew in the wind. It was unlike the usual exuberance he usually showed.

"Jared" a voice said. Jared turned around to see Allison was the one who called him. "Are you alright" she asked softly.

"Yeah" he responded a moment later.

"Are you sure" she asked walking up to him and gently touching his shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything."

Jared sighed slightly before leaning against the railing "I guess I'm a little nervous; I mean I'm entering Duel Academy in one week. I already know so many people are going to be expecting so much of me. I mean, I'm the son of Jaden Yuki, the most powerful duelist on the planet. Everyone's expecting so much of me."

Allison could see the nervousness and worry on his face; she knew it all too well because she went through the same thing when she first entered Duel Academy. "Have you tried talking to your father about it" she asked.

"He's always really busy; I've never really had a chance" Jared told her almost sadly. "I don't resent him for now being around. I'm proud of my father; he's accomplished so much and I'm very proud to be his son, but… he's got a lot on his plate already. I don't want to add more to it."

"You're his son Jared" Allison said gently. "You know he'll always make time for you. My father does and so does Kiara's and they're busy a lot as well. Just try talking to him."

Jared was silent for a moment before he smiled "Thanks Ali" he said to her with a smile. Allison blushed "You're always there for me, you know that."

"W-Well you're my friend" Allison said bashfully. "I may be three years older than you, but I don't brush people off because they're younger than me."

Jared chuckled before he brought Allison into a tight hug making her blush again. She hesitantly put her arms around him as well. While blushing on the outside she was ecstatic on the inside; ever since she was fourteen and Jared eleven she had harbored secret affections for him. As he grew older that attraction grew, but she was afraid to confess to him because of her being so much older than him.

After a minute he pulled back with a smile still on his face "Thanks Ali" he said to her softly. For a moment the two of them stared at each other; his brown eyes stared into her blue eyes. Slowly without them noticing they had begun to drift closer together to one another.

"AHEM" a voice interrupted loudly. Both of them sprang apart with bright red faces. They turned and saw it was Jaden who had cleared his throat abruptly. He had a teasing smirk on his face "Sorry, am I interrupting" he said smoothly.

"Dad" Jared whined quietly with his face turning redder.

"You move quick son, I'll give you that; you're farther along than Jason is with Kiara" Jaden continued. "But that's only because Kaiba is around; if he wasn't they'd probably be making out by now."

"DAD" Jared shouted his face even redder. Allison's face was beyond red now.

"Sorry, sorry" Jaden laughed slightly. "Pardon me Allison, I need to borrow Jared for a minute." Allison nodded and whispered a soft 'later' to Jared before walking off. "You've got great tastes son; you really do take after me."

"Dad… not cool" Jared grumbled.

"Sorry" Jaden said sincerely before he patted his son on the shoulder. "Are you ready for the Academy?"

"Of course I am, I'm the son of Jaden Yuki, the King of Games" Jared boasted loudly. "No school is too much for me."

Jaden laughed slightly "I have no doubt about that Jared, but it's okay to feel nervous." Jared looked up at his father. "You have a lot riding on your shoulders. Allison had the same problem when she first went to Duel Academy and Kiara is going to have the same problems as well since she's Kaiba's daughter and all. Don't be bothered by what others say or what others expect. Just be yourself and don't follow the crowd. Okay Jared."

Jared was a little stunned; he had no idea his father had paid so much attention especially considering all the stories he heard from various family friends about Jaden's denseness. He had underestimated his father.

"Okay dad" he said with a nod and a wide grin.

Jaden grinned as well before opening the deck box attached to his leg before pulling a card out. "Also, I have a little gift for you. Something tells me this card just belongs with you." Jared blinked before taking the card his father handed to him.

"Kuribon" Jared said confused upon reading the name of the card. "Thanks dad… I'll make you proud."

Jaden smiled and patted his son's head "I'm already proud of you."

ONE WEEK LATER

Duel Academy students that had passed their entrance exams and their duels were on a boat ready to go to Duel Academy. Everyone could easily spot Jared, Jason, Kiara and Allison.

Allison was dressed in the Obelisk Blue's girls uniform as she was going off to her third and final year to the Academy. Next to her was Kiara waving to her father and mother also dressed in the Obelisk Blue Girl's uniform. Kaiba had such a look of pride on his face that it could practically be felt by everyone.

Both Jared and Jason were also dressed in Obelisk Blue outfits as well and both of them waved by to their parents with wide grins on their face as the ship began to take off.

"His first year and your son is already an Obelisk" Jesse said to Jaden.

"Eh, he inherited his mother's brains" Jaden said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah and his dueling skills" Jesse asked with arms crossed.

"That's a mix of both" Jaden said.

"Yeah" Alexis agreed. "He's got my talent with strategies, but he's got Jaden's luck with miracle draws. Be careful though Jaden, if you're not careful your son will usurp you as the next King of Games."

"He's good, but not that good" Jaden said with a chuckle. "He doesn't know of our power yet." Alexis frowned silently beside him as they watched their son sail off into the distance on the boat.

"When are you going to tell him" Alexis asked him.

Jaden was silent for a moment as he watched the boat drift further away into the distance "After his first yet; I want him to enjoy it… like we did. Then we'll tell him everything; I just hope he wakes it well."

"Of course he will" Alexis said confidently taking his hand. "He's your son after all." Jaden smiled with pride.

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